Star Allies, Unite!
by FierySprites
Summary: Hyness's prayers have opened a rift between time and space—and it just may end up tearing the whole Gamble Galaxy apart. It's up to the Star Allies to dive into the depths of darkness and save the universe once again – and maybe this time, they can help create the happiest ending of all. Another Dimension awaits! [Star Allies Spoilers, 'Make a Friend' Fic]
1. We'll Be There With You

**Star Allies, Unite!**

 _ **Chapter 1  
**_ _We'll Be There With You_

(Uploaded on December 2, 2018)  
(Updated on March 6, 2020)

* * *

 **Summary:** While doing a routine check-up in the Lor Starcutter, Magolor detects a massive disturbance in the space between dimensions, the likes of which he has never seen before. The source of the fluctuation? Jambandra Base.

Once everyone else has been informed about the situation, they decide that there's no time to lose. Whatever the Jambandra Cult is doing now, it can't be ignored. Come on now, Star Allies – let's gather together and save the galaxy once again!

* * *

 **Notes:** This fic is set after _Kirby: Star Allies'_ main campaign, during the bonus _Heroes in Another Dimension_ mode released on November 30, 2018. There will be massive spoilers for both the main campaign and the new content, so if you haven't played either yet, steer clear of this fic. It is also best to have somewhat intricate knowledge of the _Kirby_ franchise, as much will be spoiled for previous games in the series _(Triple Deluxe, Planet Robobot, etc.)_

 **Make a Friend** series-wise, this fic takes place after _Harmony Never Really Dies_ and sometime during the events of _Are You a Friend, Too?,_ with the Star Allies having returned to Canon!Pop Star for a vacation of sorts (that won't exactly last long). There might be vague references to the two fics, but nothing explicit, as both are still in progress as of the publishing of this fic.

Several headcanons are at play, which past readers of this series should know well by now, two of the most important to this fic being: the Mage-Sisters _are,_ in fact, siblings; and—of course—Extra Modes are canon. This fic wouldn't happen otherwise.

This chapter was updated on March 6, 2020 to expand on each Dream Friend's scenes and change some of the dialogue around.

* * *

 _What is a_ _ **friend**_ _?_

 _Friends are people who share a close connection; a mutual affection, of sorts._

 _Friends come and form through many means: a slow burn build-up, fire-forged ferocity, or even an act of salvation. They can be people of many colorful identities: good-hearted people, stubbornly-defiant authorities, cool and collected thieves, or even the darkest of villains._

 _Whatever the reasons, there will always be those willing to put their hearts out to gain a closer relationship – and whoever the people, there will always be those willing to accept it._

… _and there's no denying the power that such friendship can hold._

 _It doesn't matter what comes one's way—be it simple matters, like a mere collectible out of reach… or a grave difficulty, such as the incoming end of the world—so long as one has their friends by their side, there is nothing they cannot accomplish._

 _But what if a friend has become distorted, no longer the person they used to be?_

 _Would it still be worth holding on to the remnants of the past then, merely out of old affections?_

 _Or, in the end… would breaking one's ties be the right choice to make?_

… _even despite all the things he had done for you?_

 _(There's no easy answer, and no easy way forward. There can never be, with a question so broad—and so difficult._

 _But perhaps, if a determined soul, empowered by the happiness in his soul and the friends by his side, were to come in to give one final chance…_

… _there might be hope remaining after all.)_

* * *

 _He had renewed his chanting._

 _Day after day, night after night, he stood in front of the altar where the Jamba Heart once resided, utterly oblivious to anything that might be in his surroundings._

 _Hour after hour, minute after minute, he pleaded to the stars above that his desires may be granted, that his dethroned Dark Lord of Destruction may rise again, with a vigor that no one—not even Zan Partizanne, his once closest confidant—had ever seen._

 _He barely stopped to eat. He barely stopped to sleep._

 _All that mattered to him was to salvage the only things he knew._

 _No matter what, he would revive_ _ **Void Termina**_ _._

 _No matter what, he would prove the Ancients wrong._

 _No matter what, he would salvage his faith and bring forth a new era—the era that was so ungraciously denied to his beloved Destroyer of Worlds— …even if he had to rip apart the space between dimensions in order to do so._

 _And if it required the damaging of_ _ **his very soul**_ _as well?_

… _then so be it._

" _Oh, Dark Lord of Destruction… Oh, our glorious Void Termina… For your sake—_

" _ **I SHALL OPEN THE GATES TO UNTOLD DIMENSIONS, AND RESTORE TO YOU THE GREATNESS YOU WERE DENIED! HEAR MY PRAYERS, AND COME TO ME!"**_

* * *

"Something's wrong with Lord Hyness," Zan Partizanne said, just outside the altar to the Divine Terminus. The normally reserved Bringer of Shock was noticeably far more worried than usual, her hands trembling in fear of what could happen.

"We can see that, Zan!" Flamberge exclaimed, raising her arms to the air—though she was equally as anxious as her elder sister. "He's been like that ever since that stubby little pink thing and his stupid 'friends' came in and wrecked the place! That's… That's nothing unusual!"

Francisca paced around nervously from behind her hotheaded sibling. "But you must admit," the Frozen General said, "Lord Hyness has certainly been chanting at a faster rate as of late. Ever since we gave him those documents relating to crossing time and space, he hasn't moved from the altar. I fear for his health, as I'm sure you do, Zan."

Zan Partizanne had no discomfort admitting that – it was she who was the most devout of Hyness's followers, having been the first of the sisters to be reunited under the officiant's banner. Even if Hyness treated her with disrespect – something the Bringer of Shock would deny to the very end – she remained loyal to her leader, far more so than Francisca and Flamberge could ever hope to be, even though they too had been similarly rescued from precarious situations.

And to stand here, right outside her lord's gate, unable to help or do anything as he stood wasting away in that NOVA-forsaken altar…

…well, it most certainly weighed on her nerves.

"…then we should not be standing here," she stated quietly. "If Lord Hyness is performing another of his ritual, then we—the Mage-Sisters of Jambandra—should be by his side!" She lifted her head, eyes steeled in resolute determination. "We may have failed him before, but we will not do so again! Come what may, we will stand by his side and oversee the achieving of his desires!"

"But Zan—you know he'll just yell at you again!" Flamberge cut in. "Lord Hyness hasn't treated you with any real kindness for years! If we distract him now, when he's in the middle of something important…!"

She didn't bother to finish. Though their loyalty to their leader was unquestionable, despite some misgivings, the topic of his treatment toward them was a sore spot between Flamberge and Zan, especially since Zan was enamored with the so-called Officiant of Doom. Often, the two sisters would quarrel over it, with Francisca acting as mediator. Had this been any other day—precisely, a day prior to the Star Allies' trouncing of Void Termina, the same thing would have occurred, just as it always had.

But today was not such a day.

Zan hesitated for a moment, before balling up her hands in fists. "…for Lord Hyness, I will endure it all," she declared softly. "There is no danger we cannot overcome in the service of our lord. I will stand by him, no matter what happens." More quietly, she added, "…it is all I can do after all he has done for me."

"…Zan…"

"Berge! Zan!" Francisca suddenly spoke up, catching the two sisters' attention. "I think something's happened to Lord Hyness! Listen!"

The two generals complied. Indeed, if they listened closely, they could hear a low, warbling hum echo out from the altar door—a hum that spoke of malice and darkness. And it was getting louder by the second.

Zan's eyes widened. **"Lord Hyness!"** she screamed, and—whipping out her spear—bust down the door and ran inside. Startled, Francisca and Flamberge glanced at each other before running into the altar after their elder sister. "Zan! W-Wait up!"

The altar was unchanged from its state following the Star Allies' first visit to the Divine Terminus. Under ordinary circumstances, nothing should have been any different from usual – but what Zan was witnessing before her eyes had petrified her where she stood.

Francisca rushed to Zan Partizanne's side and asked, "Z-Zan! What… What are you…" When she noticed her elder sister not responding, she turned to look at where she was gawking –and gasped just as well.

Flamberge followed suit, once she managed to stand alongside her siblings – and the three could only stare helplessly as the whole terminus began to rumble and roar all about them. The sight before them was unlike any ritual their leader had ever done before – and the results of this latest one… terrified them to an almost wordless degree.

"Lord Hyness…" Zan said breathlessly. "…what have you done?"

* * *

Elsewhere, in the Gamble Galaxy…

* * *

 **Lor Starcutter – Cockpit**

"Pop Star has been pretty interesting lately," Magolor mused aloud, sitting on a chair in front of his ship's computer. "The things Kirby and co. stumble upon—they're truly something else. I thought I had seen it all after Dedede's Cake Royale, and yet… they never cease to amaze me."

Months beforehand, Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Bandana Dee—the core members of the Star Allies—had found a Warp Hole on the grounds of Castle Dedede. Travelling through it, they discovered a most unexpected revelation: another Pop Star, both alike and different from their own.

After they (and their other friends, once they managed to make their way there) had grown accustomed to the other side, the Star Allies had decided to take a trip back home, as a sort of vacation. It would mean saying good-bye to their new friends for a while… but they knew it wouldn't be long before they came back.

Meanwhile, Kaede and her friends—sixteen Ultimate students that had arrived from a wholly different world entirely; it was a long story—were to be staying in Cappy Town in their place. Kirby had hoped they would like it—after the madness all sixteen of them had went through (another long story), he thought they more than deserved the relative normalcy. Having heard their stories himself, Magolor certainly agreed. (The things he had heard… they gave out a level of despair very evocative of his time as a Soul Boss—which was very, _very_ unpleasant to think about.)

"But despite all the things that have happened in recent years, it's good to see that Pop Star is still the same World of Miracles as always." Beneath his scarf, the Halcandran gave a small smile as he looked toward the front door. The stars of the Gamble Galaxy looked back, twinkling as if to show their appreciation as well. "It's hard to believe that it's been seven years since I first introduced myself to Kirby. My, how time flies…"

 _It has certainly been a long time,_ the Lor agreed. _It makes one appreciate the part of our lives we take for granted._

The Lor Starcutter, Magolor's faithful ship, had been rumored to have a mind of its own – and, as it turned out, this rumor turned out to be a factual one. (Like most of the legends surrounding the Gamble Galaxy, coincidentally enough.) The Lor had awakened a year after Magolor's attempt to conquer the universe—yet another long story—and he found himself talking to her quite a lot. It helped pass the time whenever he was traversing dimensions.

He chuckled. "Yes, it does, doesn't it? Becoming a Soul Boss really gets you thinking about it—and I've always been grateful for how much the experience has changed me, as unpleasant as it may have been. Kirby held no grudge against me, too – something I'm also grateful for."

 _Kirby… I am often surprised at how strong his compassion can be,_ the Lor admitted. _For him to make so many friends in spite of several of them being of dubious morality… It is no wonder why he is considered the hero of Pop Star._

A small grin. "Well, whatever the case, I'm glad he's been able to help out so many people in Dream Land. He really is a great friend." Magolor swiveled back to face his computer, his gloved hands reaching out to clack at his keyboard. "Right, enough reminiscing. It's time for your daily check-up, Lor."

The Lor would've nodded had she been able to. _That would be much appreciated, captain._

He booted up several systems, checking the functionality of the Lor Starcutter's systems, weapons, etc. "Let's see… Wings are attached and require no tune-up," he recited aloud. "The fins are flapping at their regular intervals; the engines are operating perfectly well…"

As he checked-off several items on his mental check-up checklist (what a redundant saying), a low-volume alert suddenly popped into view from the side of his monitor. "Huh?" He moved his chair over as to get a better look at the alert. "This doesn't look like a ship problem… What's going on?"

 _I do not know,_ the Lor said. _This is an unprecedented event to me. Shall I open it for you?_

"That would be nice, thank you." The alert went full-screen, bringing with it a whole list of statistics and analytics for Magolor to read. His eyes went across the screen from left-to-right several times as he delved into the ramifications of what an alert such as this would mean.

At first, it seemed like the usual report, something that he would investigate in his free time when he had nothing else to do. After all, according to Kirby, there wouldn't be another world-threatening (or galaxy-threatening) event for at least another year or two, so he could afford to sleep it off a little.

Then he read this line.

 **[WARNING]  
** Massive fluctuation in dimensional energies detected. The energies appear to be coming from **Another Dimension** in rapid succession.

"…what!?"

 _That—That's got to be joking, right!? There's—there's no way…!_

As he continued to read the report—even though he very much didn't want to—his eyes began to widen, and his jaw, hidden though it may be, dropped in complete and utter shock. The Lor's systems would never lie to him like this, even after he had stolen her from Halcandra, which could only mean… "Oh no," he muttered, "oh _no, no, no. No, no, no—_ _ **no!**_ This—this is bad. This is _very_ bad!"

And as the cherry atop the disaster sundae, this sentence popped up to him as well:

Due to the influence of dark, occult magic, **Another Dimension** appears to have gone into an unstable state, and is leaking energies to and from the designated World of Miracles, **Pop Star**. It is believed that this instability may cause…

It was clear: there was no way he could sleep _this_ off. He knew it, and his ship knew it as well.

… _I believe we may need to chart a course back to Planet Pop Star,_ the Lor advised. _We must inform the Star Allies of this posthaste. Should this situation escalate without us taking action…_

Magolor didn't need her to finish. "I got it, I got it!" His fingers began dart all over his keyboard, the Lor outside turning one-hundred-eighty degrees and making a mad dash (or the maddest dash it could take) straight back to Pop Star.

He grit his teeth as—on a separate window on his computer screen—the image of Pop Star grew closer and closer in view, and he clenched his fists anxiously as he mentally prepared an idea as to what to tell his friend.

"…this is going to suck," Magolor decided.

 _I could not have said it any better myself._

* * *

 **Castle Dedede – Balcony**

"It's a beautiful day today," King Dedede remarked, relaxing in a beach chair atop the balcony. "Butterflies are fluttering, Waddle Dees are waddling… These past few months may have been great, but it's always nice to be able to relax in peace like this."

Beside him, Kirby was also lounging in a beach chair, though he was naturally sitting in it rather than laying back. "You got it," he agreed, holding up a parasol as to block out the sun. (Sure, it was the tail-end of autumn right now, but allow him some style points, would you?) "Your Cake Royale, the Jamba Heart crisis, the True Arena, Kaede and her crew, Cappy Town… I think this year has been the single most eventful one we've ever had. Not that that's a bad thing, of course."

As per usual, Bandana Dee was by his King's side, enjoying the scenery as well though he wasn't exactly sitting. "I just hope we'll be able to get to the next month without anything crazy happening," he said. "I really want a nice, easy Christmas—you know, to celebrate surviving everything. That's… That's not too much to ask for, right?"

Dedede grinned. "Of course not, Dee!" He ruffled his assistant's head. "Yeah, it has been a pretty crazy year – but we shouldn't let it discourage us! We've become closer to each of our friends, old and new," even if some of them were rather weird to think about it (Marx and Dark Meta Knight come to mind), "and Pop Star's been the brightest it's ever been. No matter what happens next… I'll be proud knowing we've accomplished so much."

Bandana Dee's eyes shone as he listened to his King. "Gr-Great… Great King…! Your words… They're so _beautiful…!_ You always know what to say at times like this!"

"Well, of course I do! I'd be a terrible king if I weren't able to lift anyone's spirits up, after all!"

Kirby smiled at his two best friends' antics. He looked back to the Green Greens and Green Gardens beyond, basking in the grasslands and the donut structures littered throughout. And to think, over eight months ago, these lands were wrapped in another desperate crisis…

 _Heh, good thing that's over and done with. All we've got is the beginning of the new Smash tournament ahead, and then 2018 will be over and done with!_ He wiped some imaginary sweat from his forehead. _Can't wait for then!_

"But…" Bandana Dee spoke up, "we never did find out what happened to the Jambandra Cult." _Right,_ Kirby remembered, _the villains from our last adventure._ "Adeleine and our friends told us they were alright and not doing much beyond being creepy and all, but… I can't help but worry about what they might do next. They… never really became our friends, in the end…"

"Hey, relax!" Kirby assured him, turning his head to give him a confident smile. "I'm sure they've at least learned a lesson from what's happened. And if they didn't… well, us Star Allies will be able to take on anything together!"

The official formation of the Star Allies was something Kirby was immensely proud of. The seeds had always been there with his three main companions and all – but the return of all his other friends on his newest and greatest adventure finally cemented it as a real thing. All his friends together, facing off against any threat that may come their way…

…it was a glorious sight to think about.

"…I-I guess you're right," Bandana Dee relented. "Maybe nothing bad will happen after all…" He looked beyond the balcony—and then his eyes proceeded to widen. "G-Guys!" he pointed up at the sky, "L-Look over there!"

"Dee? What's…?" Kirby and King Dedede followed his request, and they became witness to a startling sight: the Lor Starcutter, exiting a dimensional portal and descending right in front of Castle Dedede. Its entrance reminded Kirby of the first time they met – but the fast speed at which it was coming down spoke of something other than a friendly visit to Pop Star.

"It's… Magolor," Dedede realized. "What's he doing, docking in front of my castle like that? He doesn't normally do that…"

"Oh no," Bandana Dee muttered. "If—If he's doing that… D-Don't tell me…!"

"Something must be up," Kirby said. "Something's that spooked him enough that he _had_ to get our attention like this." And wasn't _that_ a worrying thought. _Magolor's a pretty hard to scare individual,_ he recalled, _so if he's here right now…!_

"We gotta go check it out!" Kirby bounced from his chair and dashed back into the castle, with Dedede and Bandana Dee following suit moments later. Whatever their plans for the day—it could wait!

* * *

 **Castle Dedede – Entrance**

"Magolor!" Kirby called out, rushing out from the gates of Castle Dedede to where the Lor Starcutter was presently residing. Magolor was standing next to his ship's front door, wearing an anxious expression that the pink puffball had never seen on him before. And even the sight of his friend didn't seem to soothe his worries. _That didn't bode well!_ "What's… What's the news?"

"Yeah!" King Dedede was soon by Kirby's side, looking a little tired from all the running he just did. "You don't normally come in so close to us. Is… Is there something wrong?"

"The True Arena didn't start up again, did it!?" Bandana Dee gulped. _"Ohhhhhh,_ I'm not prepared to go through another boss gauntlet…!"

The Halcandran looked at his three friends, an intensely grave atmosphere surrounding the normally jovial traveler. "Kirby, Dedede, Bandana Dee," he said slowly, "I need you to gather everyone."

Kirby blinked. "Huh? Everyone? Like… all of the Star Allies?"

"Yes," he replied. _"Everyone._ It's an emergency. An extremely _dire_ emergency. One that'll affect the entirety of our galaxy. And everybody needs to be here to hear it, _now."_

Magolor was serious. _Very_ serious. And very spooked; Kirby could hear something wavering in his voice as he spoke, which told wonders in the heat of the moment. He wouldn't lie about this, Kirby knew that—not anymore.

"What—What kind of danger i-is this, M-Magolor?" Bandana Dee asked, nervously shifting in place. "…p-please tell me it's not the True Arena."

"It's not the True Arena." For a moment, Bandana Dee looked hopeful that this wouldn't be as bad as he thought. _I—I could be overreacting! It… It might just be something small! Y-Yeah! It has to be!_

His hopes were then immediately shattered. _"It's_ _ **worse."**_

Kirby and Dedede both looked disturbed. _"…worse_ than the True Arena?" Kirby breathed. That—That couldn't be possible. The True Arena had always been the worst things Kirby had ever faced. _Always._ For there to be something worse…"Are… Are you serious?"

"Kirby," Magolor said, "I have never been more serious in my life."

A silence passed between the quartet. The three (out of four) core members of the Star Allies glanced at each other with great worry. _This is really,_ _ **really**_ _not good,_ they shared the same thought, before they turned back to the once-final boss. "…tell us all about it," Dedede said. "If it's as bad as you say, then… we're gonna need to know everything about what's happening."

"I hear you loud and clear. Come in; the Lor and I have all the information you need."

* * *

Star Allies' Dream Land  
 **#save-the-world**

 **Perfect King, Baby!:** Everyone, we've got a problem.

 **Perfect King, Baby!:** Magolor's detected something, and it's… not good.

 **Perfect King, Baby!:** Like, even more so than what we're accustomed to.

 **Perfect King, Baby!:** Gather whatever you need and head toward Castle Dedede. We need all hands on deck this time—especially if we want the Gamble Galaxy to remain standing by next week. This is not a drill—repeat, this is not a drill.

 **Perfect King, Baby!:** Kirby, Dee, and I will be waiting in front for you guys.

 **Perfect King, Baby!:** Don't be late, y'all.

 **BestFriendTrend:** oh yeah, and if you see a spider-like guy, that's Taranza. he's also a friend.

 **Assistant of the Stars:** plz come quickly! im kinda lowkey panicking right now!

* * *

 **Sacred Square**

Meta Knight always had an affinity for Dream Land's Sacred Square.

There was an air of mysticism to it; a calming, serene atmosphere that almost never failed to put him at ease. It wasn't too far from Orange Ocean, either, meaning that it was easy for him to make routine visits for both relaxation and training purposes—which is why he was here today with several of his Meta-Knights.

However, though he normally relished being able to take such trips with his knights… something was stopping him from being fully relaxed, as of late.

"I can feel it," he said, atop an overlooking cliff. "There is a disturbance in the air."

Looking down, his troops appeared not to have noticed. The various blade-wielding warriors continued to spar without worry, oblivious to the tension creeping up Meta Knight's spine. Being the so-called 'Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy', his instincts were generally on point when it came to the detecting dangers to Dream Land's safety. Ignoring his feelings here would be to cast the planet into the depths of darkness.

Captain Vul—his loyal second-in-command, who had come to take stock of the recruits—noticed his general's all too battle-ready stance. "Meta Knight," he said, "is everything alright?"

"…no, I do not believe so. A… premonition weighs heavy on my mind—and I do not understand why. All I know is that, whatever it is, it is important on some level."

"Hmm… that is odd. "Hmm… that is odd," he replied, a wing stroking his beak. "Perhaps the other Star Allies have an idea – they are usually the first ones to be involved in Pop Star's usual crises."

Following Vul's advice, Meta Knight took out his Star Phone and opened up the Star Allies' Discord server, where his friends habitually hung out at (for whatever reason)—

—and saw the _#save-the-world_ channel lighting up with a notification.

 _ **Perfect King, Baby!:** Everyone, we've got a problem._

The lone swordsman read Dedede's texts carefully; such a channel was set up only to be used in the midst of any high-priority situation, alleged or otherwise. Despite being only written and not spoken aloud, it was clear that the king was not joking around—and that gave the core Star Ally all the justification he needed to make his decision.

"So that's how it is," Vul muttered, scanning the messages over his liege's shoulder. "Am I to assume that you're headed off to Castle Dedede?"

Meta Knight nodded. "Whatever this threat is, I cannot allow it to persist. Vul, I trust you to take charge of my knights while I am away." He spread his wings and started flapping off the ground. "It is time for me to once more fulfill my sworn duties."

"As you wish, Lord Meta Knight!"

With his affairs in order, the airborne puffball took off toward the meeting.

* * *

 **Great Forest**

Seven forest dwellers stared at a single screen.

Five simple words were the focus of their attention.

 _ **Perfect King, Baby!:** Everyone, we've got a problem._

They spent a few more minutes digesting this unusually early warning, memories of the past two major crises springing to their heads.

"Well, mates," Rick said casually, "looks like we've got an invitation to a new cowabunga."

"Another adventure, this early?" Coo crossed his wings. "I say, that's just suspicious! Now's the time for _rest,_ not the time for _dis_ tress!"

"I think it's okay. Adventures are nice," Gooey airily added. "Especially with good friends; you get to have good picnics with friends. Mmm, picnic…"

"Too bad this won't be any picnic, according to Dedede," Kine sighed. "And here I was hoping to spend a day with Mine…"

The forest leaves fluttered in the wind, daylight and chirping birds creating a sharp contrast to the melancholy surrounding the crew.

The Great Forest was their home—Rick's, Kine's, Coo's, even Gooey's. Few could appreciate its beauty as much as they could, which is why it always hurt on some level to have to leave it behind during the next major crisis of the week. The crew was constantly at risk from threats that would seek to 'correct' their existences—

But that was what their friends were for—to let them know there was a world that _did_ still care about them.

These past two-and-a-half decades hadn't diminished their empathy in the slightest – and after enduring the Dark Matter and Robobot invasions, there wasn't much else that could be thrown at them. If Kirby and Dedede was calling out for their assistance, then they'd roll up their sleeves and rush on in, no questions asked.

Chuchu frowned, none too pleased by the announcement. "I wish stuff like this wouldn't keep happening… but I know there's no stopping it. Just—make sure you four stay safe, okay?"

"Don't forget to tell us 'bout your adventures when you get back!" Pitch chirped, hope shining in his eyes. "They're always so _exciting!"_

"I wouldn't say exciting," Nago shrugged. "More 'kind of interesting'. But yeah, do at least try to survive long enough to make it back."

"Don't worry—we can do that easily!" Rick grinned, all traces of trepidation forgotten. "We'll be back to have a barbie before you know it!"

"Mm-hm," Coo nodded. "I better not see my nest all scratched up, though—I'm not in the mood to fix it again!"

* * *

 **Cloudy Park – Strawberry Pass**

Once upon a time, the Strawberry Pass of Cloudy Park was where Adeleine sought shelter from the forces of Dark Matter. Nowadays, it was her sanctuary, her home away from home, where she could freely paint whatever her imagination could dream of.

Her trusty paintbrush stroked across her canvas, multiple colors adding up to weave a beautiful picture. Ribbon—her faithful fairy companion—spun around her in cycles as she gradually put in place the pieces of her little puzzle, excitement clear as day on her face.

"Andddddd… done!" The artist stepped back and put her tools away. The painting—illustrating a picnic with the old Crystal Shards crew—sprouted to life in an instant, moving in accordance to the memories she poured into it. The facsimile of Kirby, which seemed almost lifelike, waved at the two with a half-eaten Maxim Tomato in his hand.

"Tee hee hee—Kirby's so cute, even when he's only a painting," Ribbon giggled. "You haven't lost your touch, Addie!"

"You know it," the teal-clothed girl replied. "When you've got a dozen ideas in your brain, you get a lotta practice expressing 'em!"

Adeleine had come a long way since her days of being a scared kid with magic powers she barely understood. She was a grown woman now, confident in her ability to portray worlds and people in styles and genres once beyond her. And she had a loyal partner in Ribbon, too—from the day they first met, there was no doubt that they'd become inseparable.

The duo had blossomed in the starlight, and together, they were practically unstoppable.

Ribbon stretched her arms in the air, sighing contently. "Y'know, we've been painting for a while now…" she noted. "It makes me wonder how Kirby and everyone else is doing."

"That silly puffball's probably gouging on cakes with Dedede," the artist guessed, smiling. "He eats more cakes than everyone else by a landslide. Actually, now that I think about it," she rifled through her pockets, "I should ask if he wants me to paint him anything…"

She got out her own Star Phone, just in time to watch it light up with a notification. Head tilting, she unlocked it and…

 _ **Perfect King, Baby!:** Everyone, we've got a problem._

"Oh no," Ribbon whispered, "that's not good!"

"You're telling _me…"_

The two friends spent a few moments analyzing Dedede's words in silence.

"…if our friends need our help again, then there's no time to waste!" the fairy exclaimed with a determined expression. "Kirby and Dedede have done so much for us already; it's only right we help repay the favor!"

Adeleine smiled. "I suppose there's nothing else to it, huh? Well, I'm up for painting away at the bad guys again!" She brought out her Warp Star, a gift from Kirby circa several months back. "Next stop, Castle Dedede! Ready, Ribbon?"

"Ready, Addie! C'mon!"

* * *

 **Mirror World  
Rainbow Route**

" _Wooooooooooo!"_

Marx spun about in the air, rainbow-crusted wings spread out as wide as they could go. He barrel-rolled, did loop-de-loops, and showed off his flying skills like nobody's business – much to the chagrin of a certain shadowy warrior.

" _Ha ha!_ Look at me, I'm king of the skies!" he crowed. "Uncontested in every category, and unmatched in every battle!"

Dark Meta Knight scoffed. "Your skills aren't _that_ impressive. Such a display only indicates how amateurish you are."

"Hey, not everyone can fly the way you and Marx can!" Shadow Kirby interjected, smiling much more. "I think it's something to admire, really!"

"Hmph. Perhaps," he allowed. "I'd still beat him any day—my training guarantees that, easily."

The clown dropped to the ground, bearing a cheeky grin toward his edgy companion. "Eh, who needs training?" he said. "So long as you've got the talent and the ability to adapt, you can do _anything!"_

The Mirror World was no ordinary place, being parallel to that of Dream Land: it was at once a kingdom easily mistaken as belonging in the mainland and yet a realm very much distinct from the outside. Yet, even here, there was friendship and good times to be had, as evident by the trio here.

A trickster, a dark knight, and an easy-going puffball in a hearty grassland… you'd think that they wouldn't click at all, at first glance. To everyone's surprise, though, they managed to work off of each other's assets and faults – which was a testament to the strength of the friendships Kirby held so dearly.

Moving past their old traumas wasn't easy, sure—but it was easier when you knew someone would stand by you all the while.

Shadow Kirby gave off a little laugh. "Alright, alright! That's enough of that! We've got a lot to do, and only so much time to get to it! Marx, what's next on our list?"

"Lemme see…" Out came the Dream Friend's Star Phone, display lighting up with a selfie of the marvelous Marx. Before he could do anything, however, a notification popped up on his screen.

 _ **Perfect King, Baby!:** Everyone, we've got a problem._

"What the…? This is new."

Entering his typical fortress of memes, he stumbled onto something far more serious than expected. Curious as to why the jester was being silent, Shadow Kirby and Dark Meta Knight moved to peek at his phone—and found their own brows furrowing in worry.

"…we have a new mission from our bloated king?" Dark Meta Knight sneered. "That's… suboptimal."

"Aww…" Shadow Kirby sighed. "But I was _really_ looking forward to this… do you guys have to go?"

"Hey, Triple D's explicitly calling for everyone, and we're part of everyone," Marx shrugged. "If it's any consolation, we'll make sure to give whoever's behind this the good 'ol-fashioned one-two!" Adopting a more serious expression for a moment, he added, "Besides… if this is the True Arena again, we're gonna want to see this."

His fellow Dream Friend nodded, if reluctantly. _That_ was something they couldn't afford to let run unchecked.

"Okay… I'll stay here, so Shadow Dedede and I can defend the Mirror World," the mirror puffball said. "Good luck on your quest, you two!"

"We won't need it, but thanks anyway!" That statement was something of a lie, but eh, what could he do. He turned to Dark Meta Knight and decided to issue a challenge. "Hey, Darky," he said, taking to the air, "betcha I can get to Castle Dedede faster than you can!"

" _What!?"_ the knight's eyes widened. "Oh no,you don't, you little pest. _I'll_ be the one to make it there first!"

"Try me, Darky! Hee hee hee!"

* * *

 **Daroach's Airship – Cockpit**

In the skies above Dream Land, a mouse-themed blimp soared at a steady pace.

The infamous Squeak Squad was scattered about the cockpit, lounging about the room and generally just being Unprofessional as Heck™. Storo was resting on his back; Doc was tinkering with some device; Spinni was spinning a shuriken in his paw—all was calm, and all was warm.

And of course, the front of the ship, looking fondly at his tight-knit crew, was Daroach. The classy thief was leaning back in the pilot's seat, the controls set to autopilot, letting the sight of his teammates relax his soul.

"I've almost forgotten about this," he mused—"how tranquil Dream Land can be, outside of the annual chaos it sees." Outside, the oceans of the Reef Resort sparkled in the sunlight, grassy terrain adding to its wondrous nature.

"Though… if it wasn't for all the chaos, I wouldn't have met everyone the way I did." Adeleine & Ribbon, Marx, Dark Meta Knight… the Jamba Heart crisis had brought the five of them together, and now he couldn't imagine them not being in his life. And the Ultimates—specifically Angie, Korekiyo, and Tenko—they were as precious as any treasure he dug up.

"I suppose, then, that I wouldn't have had our meetings happen any other way." He pulled out his Star Phone, reading the texts the Harmony Crew was posting on Discord.

* * *

 _ **PianoPianoPanic:** No, we _can't _beat Erasmus up just because he's being a jerk!_

 _ **PianoPianoPanic:** He hasn't done anything bad enough to warrant that!_

 _ **To Infinity and Beyond!:** um _hello

 _ **To Infinity and Beyond!:** have you _seen _what he does_

 _ **To Infinity and Beyond!:** he literally tried to chop whispy woods down last week_

 _ **To Infinity and Beyond!:** just to make a dumb golf thing_

 _ **PianoPianoPanic:** I know, but… still! It's uncalled for!_

 _ **Lesbian Train:** who cares!? he makes Tiff and Himiko feel bad every day!_

 _ **Lesbian Train:** let's punish that degenerate with everything we've got!_

 _ **ultimate memelord:** REVOLUTION! REVOLUTION!_

 _ **Kayayday's Lie:**_ no, kokichi, no!

 _ **ultimate memelord:**_ yes, kokichi, yes!

 _ **i hate everything:** Ugh…_

He chuckled. _As lively as ever, I see._

* * *

A notification suddenly dropped down from the top of his screen.

 _ **Perfect King, Baby!:** Everyone, we've got a problem._

"Hmm?" he raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"

He opened it up, and his mouth began to curve upwards. As he scrolled down, it went further and further, until it broke out into an overt smirk.

" _Squeak Squad, heads up!"_ At once, the group of mice shot up and gathered around their leader. In response, Daroach showed them the dialogue on his screen. "Looks like Kirby and Dedede require our services once more!"

Spinni looked interested. "Color me surprised. And here I thought it'd be another few months before we'd get to do another expedition."

"Ooh la la…!" Doc's mustache was twitching on end now. "Zere was so much advanced technologies last time… how many will I get to ztudy this time, I wonder?"

He giggled.

It was a creepy giggle.

(Daroach ignored it.)

"Well, boss—we're ready to move out when you are!" Storo said. "We'll go wherever you want us to!"

Daroach crossed his arms and showed his teeth. "It's settled, then." He spun to face the steering wheel and grasped it with both paws. "Buckle up, Squeak Squad! It's time for us to crash another party!"

* * *

 **Floralia  
Royal Road – Flower Garden**

The sun shone brightly on Floralia's semi-famous flower garden, a cool autumn breeze washing over the plants nestled within. From the entrance, Taranza stared solemnly at the world he'd put so much time into, a jungle born from his need to honor the memories he could never, ever put to rest.

Clinching this fact was the statue erected in the middle of the room, depicting a figure who, even now, he devoted his entire existence to.

The plague attached to it said all.

 **In Memoriam of  
Queen Sectonia (XXXX-2014)**  
 _For the friend who once held beauty in more than from a mirror._

Next to him, several figures stood behind him; Ivy, one of the retainers who he was close to, and Dedede's Waddle Dees, having arrived to inform the acting regent of a matter that couldn't be ignored. Both parties watched silently as he struggled to articulate what he wanted to say.

"…hey, Sectonia," he finally began. "I-It's me again. Taranza.

"It's been four years, h-hasn't it? Four years since you… passed from this realm. I… I can't say it's been easy, l-living without your comforting voice to soothe me, b-but—but I'm trying my best.

"…I know I'm n-not as brave as you ever were. O-Or as strong; you knew swordplay and magic like the back of your hand. If—If you're up there, c- can you tell me… am I a worthy successor to your throne? Are you—the _real_ you, untainted by the Mirror—proud of what I've accomplished?"

For several seconds, no more words were spoken. Ivy put a hand over her chest in sympathy. The Dees closed their eyes, and let their thoughts wander to their own king.

Taranza sighed. "…I guess it doesn't matter." He wiped a few tears from his eyes and continued to speak with his heart. "King Dedede's calling for me. You might remember him as one of the heroes of the lower world. He's—well, he considers me a friend, though I don't think I really deserve that honor."

The self-proclaimed king of Dream Land had become a close friend of Taranza's in the years since his ascension. He had consoled him after the death of his once-best friend, and helped him get his bearings in replacing her rule. Despite the fact that the once-villain had kidnapped him and forced him to fight his best friend, he held no grudge.

"There's a crisis brewing on Pop Star, he says, and—and he wants my help in stopping it. He—He trusts me enough to b-bring me onboard, and… there's no way I'm refusing that now. M-Maybe I'm only seeing myself up for failure by doing this, b-but… I can't hole myself up here forever.

"So… yeah. I'm going to help a friend, just like you would've liked me to. I'll do this for you, for him, and for everyone who's counting on me." He took in a breath. "…that's all."

Unshed tears still in his eyes, he exited the garden and closed the door behind him.

Ivy stepped closer, uncertainty in her gait. "Your Majesty… are you okay?"

The arachnid nodded. "Yeah. I'll be alright." He turned to the Waddle Dees and exhaled in acceptance. "I'm ready. Take me to King Dedede."

* * *

 **Haltmann Works H.Q.  
President's Office**

The President's Office was rather bare, filled up with only the bare essentials for work: a desk, a computer, a rolling chair, filing cabinets… and all of it—including the wallpaper—was as spartan as could be, grays and darker grays exuding an aura of corporate conformity.

Sitting behind the tabletop and wearing eyes that spoke of well-concealed pain, Susanna Patrya Haltmann stared at the image brought up on her computer. A chart of power readings throughout the galaxy was giving her the news: some sort of dimensional rift was leaking energies into the Gamble Galaxy, disrupting the delicate balance between worlds. The written report below only confirmed her suspicions as to what was happening.

"Another Dimension…" she growled. She closed her eyes and tried to fight the primal fear welling up inside of her. "…why does that name keep haunting me so?"

Memories long locked away rushed into her mind, a time in her life she vowed never to remind herself of.

 _A young scavenger, running for her life._

 _Screams of ethereal demons, savage and feral against all intruders._

 _She struggled to hold a clump of food in her arms, desperate for any safe spot she could find._

 _Down, down the golden corridors she went, pushing her feet as far as they could go—but her resistance was futile._

 _For behind every shadow she sought shelter in…_

… _ **the monsters lay, waiting to**_ _ **strike.**_

She shook her head and hyperventilated, willing those images back into the safe they came from. _No, no,_ _ **no**_ _—they're not here, they're not here—!_

…

…

…

 _Pinky._

 _If this storm continues to build, Pinky'll be caught up in it. He and—all those friends he has._

… _it'll take him. Take him like it indirectly did my father._

She clenched her fist. Pinky was _hers._ Pinky was hers and hers alone to mess with (even if she was no longer up for being his enemy).

 _I refuse to let my promise go unfulfilled._

"Fine. If I can't put things off anymore, then so be it." She pushed back her swivel chair and stood up, her gaze steely with determination. "I'm going to fix this crisis, even if that means teaming up with Pinky."

She marched toward the elevator—she'll need her Business Suit and plenty of gadgets to deal with this.

"It's time for the Haltmann Works Company to finally have its long sought-after vengeance."

And she definitely wasn't talking about Kirby.

* * *

Eventually…

* * *

 **Castle Dedede – Entrance**

Above the Lor Starcutter, Kirby looked ahead on his Warp Star for the incoming arrival of his friends – and he wasn't disappointed in that regard. Over the horizon, he could see several people coming: **Rick, Kine, Coo,** and **Gooey** waltzed in from the Great Forest; **Adeleine** and **Ribbon** soared in on their own Warp Star; **Marx** and **Dark Meta Knight** appeared to be having a little race; **Daroach's** airship casually strode up to the castle as if the world was its playground; and finally, **Taranza** arrived from the direction of the Dreamstalk, looking apprehensive alongside a squadron of Waddle Dees.

Kirby drove the Warp Star back down and landed on the ground. To his three other friends, he said, "They're all coming. Everyone's almost here." (How ironic, how he was saying that so close to the beginning of the _Ultimate_ tournament.)

"Good." Dedede spun his hammer around, already mentally prepared for the dangers ahead of them. He recalled the information Magolor had given him and the others, and grimaced at what the Star Allies would most likely have to face. _A threat worse than the True Arena itself…_ _And here I thought today was going to be just another day in Dream Land._ He quietly scoffed. _Shows what I know._

Beside him, Magolor had pulled out some modified Nintendo 3DS, several statistics highlighted on both screens that honestly made Dedede's head hurt trying to read it. He occasionally looked up from his device, as if he was checking to see if anybody had arrived yet. Bandana Dee also stood on standby, his trademark spear at his hand. He looked far more nervous than he had ever been, but given the subject matter, it was only natural.

Meta Knight was here as well, having arrived first before everyone else and just in time to be informed of the situation by Magolor. He, too, was on edge, his trusty sword Galaxia out and ready to attack any hostile foe that dared to come his way. Dedede almost pitied the bosses they would face. Almost.

"Kirby! Dedede! Bandana Dee!" Adeleine and Ribbon were first on the scene thanks to their Warp Star, crashing in front of the Star Allies' core quartet and landing on their feet (well, Adeleine did, anyway).

"We came here as fast as we could once we got your message!" she said. She brandished her paintbrush with a determined smile on her face. "I'm ready to paint! Whenever you need a picnic, just say the word and I'll be in it!"

"Adeleine, Ribbon," Dedede smiled. "It's good to see you guys again."

"It's good to see you too! So, what kind of enemies do we need to face?" Ribbon asked, fluttering alongside her friend. "Dark Matter? Zero? Dark Matter _and_ Zero? We'll take them all on!"

"I don't think that's what we'll be seein', mates," Rick's voice suddenly came into view, "but good guesses either way." The three Animal Buddies (and Gooey) waltzed up to the growing group, the group of Waddle Dees leading them dispersing once they did. "G'day, everybody," he greeted. "Fine day for an adventure, wouldn't you say?"

Kirby smiled ruefully. "If only that were the case," he grimly stated.

"Huh?" Kine blinked. "Is something wrong, Kirby? You… You don't seem as jolly, today…"

"I'm sure it's nothing," Gooey spoke up, as dreamily as always. "He's Kirby. He's a good friend. He can handle anything."

"Hmm…" Coo hummed. "Are you sure about that? I don't think even _Kirby's_ sure about it this time…"

"You're pretty perceptive," the pink puffball noted. "Let's just say this journey might be a more troublesome one than usual."

"Whatever comes up," Rick continued, "it can't be any worse than what we've seen so far, eh mates? No worries – she'll be right in the end!"

Suddenly, crashing in from the sky, Marx descended and proved himself the 'winner' of his and Dark Meta Knight's race. _"Wooooooo!"_ he cheered, his wings raised to the sky. "I won, I won! Take _that,_ Darky! Looks like _I'm_ the better flier between the two of us! How does that feel, huh, huh?"

"This means nothing," Dark Meta Knight's guttural voice growled from above, his form flapping in after the jester. "It was merely a fluke. The sun got in my eyes and distracted me. Nothing more."

Marx snickered. That was an absolutely terrible lie. _If Kokichi was here,_ he thought, _he'd see through it instantly!_ "Sure, _sure!_ Whatever you say, Darky."

Meta Knight met their gazes with a reserved expression – they may not have been as bitter enemies as they were starting out, but by no means were they the best of friends now either. "Marx. Dark Meta Knight. It is… good to see you here, at the edge of this crisis."

"Meta Knight!" Marx greeted his fellow Star Ally in faux-happiness. "Aww, you were invited, too? It's like a big party of Dream Friends! Hey, hey—you know if there's any cake around?"

"Shut your simpering, Marx," Dark Meta Knight groaned. "I am growing tired of listening to it." (Marx cheekily replied, "Well, if you say so~", much to his irritation – but he'd let it slide for now.) To his non-mirror counterpart, he said, "I… trust… that you will have my back in the coming battles?"

The wielder of Galaxia nodded assent. "So long as you'll have mine," he replied, "you shall have nothing to worry about."

Dark Meta Knight relaxed a little. "Good to hear."

Next in line was the Squeak Squad; Daroach's airship was making a swift landing close to the Lor Starcutter. The bridge came down, and Daroach came down in a rather stylish fashion, accompanied by the rest of the Squeaks. "Hello there, Dream Land!" he called. "The Squeak Squad is finally here!"

Adeleine, Ribbon, and Marx cheered; Dark Meta Knight perked up as well.

"Good to see I warrant such a warm welcome," he grinned. "How's my honorary Squeaks been doing? I've been a bit busy, exploring Dream Land with the crew."

"You know us," Marx chirped. "We've been hanging around and poking in people's belongings every now and again! Just the usual stuff!"

Coo shot a glare at the clown. "Marx, exactly _who's_ belongings are you talking about?"

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know? Tee hee!"

"That ain't creepy at all, mate," Rick deadpanned.

"Regardless of shenanigans…" Daroach chuckled, "I am excited to be back in business with all of you. Let's make this a successful voyage, shall we?" He threw a smirk at Bandana Dee. "I'm looking forward to seeing what more we can do together—especially you, Dee. If you ever decide to leave your king's employ, I'll always have a spot for you."

"R-Really?" Bandana Dee rubbed the back of his head, a blush rising to his cheeks. "T-That means a lot to me… T-Thanks!"

Also walking in, albeit slowly, was Taranza, current regent of the islands of Floralia. He looked plenty nervous about the situation, his eyes darting all about in a presumed attempt to keep himself distracted. "H-Hey, Kirby, Dedede."

If possible, Dedede's burgeoning smile grew even wider – and the same could be said for Kirby as well. "Taranza!" the king called out, rushing over to give his fellow ruler a great big guy. For what it was worth, the arachnid seemed much more soothed after he elected to hug back. "How's Floralia been, buddy? I haven't had a chance to visit in a while."

Taranza looked bashful. "W-Well," he began to explain, "we've—we've been doing pretty great, all things considered. I… still don't know why the people like me so much," _especially since I used to work for—_ He shook his head, "but it hasn't been a bad thing, honestly."

"Sounds like you've been doing good work!" Kirby chimed in, his signature happy smile shining brightly on his face. "…you've gotten a lot better since 2014, you know. I'm… I'm glad to see you happier than you used to be. You really deserve it."

"I'm still not sure about that," Taranza said, "but… thanks."

Out of the blue, Ribbon floated over to the arachnid, startling him immensely. She spun around his body much like a certain navigation fairy would do. "Wow… So you're a ruler, just like Dedede and Her Majesty?" Her eyes sparkled. "That's so _cool!_ Look, Adeleine! He's—he's like _royalty!"_

"I—I wouldn't say I'm _r-royalty,"_ he protested. "I'm—I'm just… the interim guy, th-that's all…" But the Crystal Shard duo had become pretty interested in the regent of the skies.

"Don't be like that!" Adeleine admonished him. "You _have_ to be a great king to have stayed in power for four years! It—It _is_ four years for him, right Kirby?" she asked, turning to her pink friend. He nodded 'yes'.

A light bulb then went off in the artist's head. "Ooh, maybe we can introduce you to Queen Ripple!" she said. "She rules over Ripple's home planet! I think the two of you would get along swell!"

"Yeah!" Ribbon exclaimed. "More friends for Her Majesty!"

"Now that I think about it," Dedede remarked, "I think Queen Ripple would like having another regent to talk to. N-Not that… I'm… not good enough, or anything…" A light blush popped up on his face, which made his friends giggle.

"…I s-suppose, if you guys think it's a good idea," Taranza said, "th-then… we could give it a shot. B-But _after_ we get through… wh-whatever we're doing here. That's important."

That _would_ have been all the Star Allies (and Magolor and Taranza), but there was still one more arrival left. The sound of something mechanical descending from the sky fluttered into everybody's auditory range. Upon hearing the unfortunately familiar hovering noise, Meta Knight immediately narrowed his eyes. "That craft… She _dares_ to come back here, after all this time…!?"

Kirby was surprised too, but for a different reason. "Wait… She's actually coming here…!?"

The Star Allies collectively looked up, and bore witness to a combat mech touching down on Pop Star, the likes of which had only been seen beforehand by Kirby and Meta Knight. As it landed with a thud, the figure in the cockpit took off their visor—and revealed themselves to be **Susie** , current CEO of the Haltmann Works Company.

Several reactions occurred at this point: Bandana Dee yelped and hid behind his King, who had his hammer ready to slam; Adeleine instinctively grabbed Ribbon and Gooey and hugged them tight between her arms; and Meta Knight drew his sword toward the woman, seeming about ready to cut her where she stood. _"You,"_ he growled, intense anger undercurrent beneath his voice.

Susie raised an eyebrow, completely nonchalant at being threatened in front of several figures. "Me," she agreed.

Marx and Dark Meta Knight looked at their fellow warrior in surprise, having not expected his rather hostile reaction. He hadn't reacted like _that_ to them, and they were former villains, for crying out loud! "H-Hey, Meta Knight?" the jester worriedly asked. "Wh-What's up with you?"

"Is there something about this woman that draws your ire?" Dark Meta Knight inquired as well. What could get his doppelganger all ticked off like that?

Meta Knight grunted. "…you could say that."

Undaunted by his one-time enemy's surprise appearance, Kirby walked up to Susie as if she were just another person on Pop Star. "Susie," she cordially greeted. "What brings you here? Something tells me it's not for a business trip or anything like that."

The secretary-turned-CEO despawned her Business Suit mech, leaving her standing alone and armed only with a blaster. "Pinky," she greeted the multi-time savior back. "I heard you were about to embark on an… adventure, of sorts."

Worried mutters and rumblings floated through the crowd of gathered Dream Friends. Kirby did nothing more than tilt his head slightly. "You could say that," he confirmed. Since she was the current owner of a massive technological provider, it only made sense that she would see the incoming crisis about to hit Pop Star (and the Gamble Galaxy, for that matter). "And?"

"Well, I want in."

"Absolutely not," Meta Knight spat, his glare becoming even frostier than before. "After all the things you and your NOVA-forsaken company did, do you honestly believe that we would take you in with open arms?"

"Hey, hey, hey, hold on," Marx interrupted the party. He looked extremely confused, as did Dark Meta Knight next to him. (Understandable, as they had only come back to life _after_ the Robobot crisis had come and went.) "Am I missing something here? What exactly did this Susie lady do that's got everyone on edge?"

"She—She turned half the p-planet into p-p-poor c-cyborgs!" Bandana Dee stammered out.

"The whole environment was nearly ruined because of her!" Coo added his own two cents.

"Her minions tried to take my friends away for—for—experimentation, or something!" Adeleine stated, keeping a close eye on Susie and still hugging her friends.

" _She made me into an enslaved mechanical abomination,"_ Meta Knight hissed.

"Okay, for your information," Susie began to correct them, "it was the company as a whole that did those things, not me individually. Well, except for that last part." She turned her gaze to Meta Knight, matching his icy glare with her own calm eyes. "Honestly, you _were_ a very impressive knight; it was only natural that I gave you an upgrade like that."

Dark Meta Knight shuddered. When she put it _that_ way, it was no wonder his light world counterpart held so much disdain for her.

A lack of free will? Forced to do somebody else's bidding? _No, thank you!_ _I had enough of that with Dark Mind!_

"Speaking of knights…" Susie then turned to him, and the mirror knight instinctively stepped back in alarm. "I didn't know there was another knight just like you, Meta Knight." She seemed to be sizing him up, which gave him a substantial amount of discomfort. "Perhaps I could model our newest batch of Mecha Knights after him…"

"Hey, hey, _hey—_ stay away from him!" Marx defensively stood in front of his fire-forged frenemy, spreading out his fanged wings again in an attempt to look intimidating. (To its credit, it worked a little.) "You wanna touch him, you're gonna have to go through me."

"M-Marx?" Dark Meta Knight was startled by the jester's response. Even now, he wasn't quite the most socially aware of things – but he was grateful all the same.

Susie huffed. "Fine, be that way," she grumbled. Under her breath, she muttered, "I guess you natives will never change…"

Meta Knight turned to Kirby. "Kirby," he began, "don't tell me we are actually going to include her on this mission. You know what she and that blasted company of hers is like; involving her would be a security risk of the highest order. There should be no doubt as to how dangerous she is."

"I dunno, Meta," Dedede interjected, wearing a contemplative expression, "she looks like she can pack a big punch, and if what Magolor told us is any indication, we're gonna need all the help we can get to survive this. We shouldn't dismiss her out-of-hand when the whole galaxy's on the line like this."

"B-But—Meta Knight _does_ have a p-point!" Bandana Dee added. "The things that happened during the R-Robobot crisis… T-They were terrible! Wh-Who's to say she won't do the same thing again to us when this is all over?"

"I won't," Susie declared confidently, having overheard the core quartet's conversation about her. "You have my word on that. Besides," she looked away and clenched her fists, "this is… personal for me. I—I have to do this."

Meta Knight continued to glare at the secretary for several more moments, trying to ascertain her true motives for coming (though to a certain pink puffball, who remembered the conversation he'd had with her two years ago, her 'true motives' were very clear). He was interrupted from shooting a sharp response at her by said pink puffball voicing, "Alright. You can come, Susie."

Several eyes widened at Kirby's acceptance of yet another (former?) villain onto their team. Dedede glanced at Meta Knight for a split second before asking Kirby, "Hey, Kirby. Are… are you sure about this? I mean, you know how Meta Knight feels and all…"

"Trust me," Kirby replied, "I'm sure. She won't start up anything, I promise."

It was a testament to the trust and long-time friendship the four of them shared that they took the puffball by his word.

"…okay. I trust you, so we'll make this work. So long as she does no funny business, we'll hold her to it."

"If—If she promises to k-keep away f-from my brethren, then… then I c-can deal with this!"

Meta Knight took the longest to respond. He didn't know what to say, having yet another enemy joining the Star Allies he had come to cherish – before he finally turned away and replied, "…fine. Do as you wish. I will trust your judgement, just this once."

Several of the other Star Allies made similar noises of agreement, trusting their leader to do the right thing. Susie smiled. "Glad to see you made the right decision in the end," she said.

Magolor, who had been long silent—and taking note of all the Dream Friends that had deigned to show up—finally decided to speak up. "…you've certainly made quite the collection of friends in the years past, haven't you, Kirby?" he remarked, putting away his modified 3DS to look out at the crowd assembled. "Even now, I can scarcely believe everyone can be here as we are."

"You know me," Kirby said with a smile. "I'll make friends with anybody, even if they don't really want to be friends… and even if they're determined to be anything else. I couldn't do anything else. It's just in my nature." The existence of Marx and Dark Meta Knight was proof enough of that fact.

Magolor nodded to himself. "If all goes well, it shouldn't be a problem then. Right, enough playing around." He began to raise his voice, _"Star Allies! May I have your attention, please!"_ The crowd went silent at the Halcandran's voice – at last, he could finally get this show on the road.

"Thank you. Ahem!" he coughed. "You have all gathered here for a very important reason. It is to my displeasure that I must announce that a crisis has once more engulfed our Gamble Galaxy." The crowd immediately began to murmur among themselves at this declaration.

" _It's not Dark Matter again, is it? We'll take them down if it is!"_

" _Are crises tasty? I think it sounds tasty… Can you cook it?"_

" _Didn't we just deal with a crisis back in March!? I've got a pranking quota to fill you know; this isn't good for that!"_

" _Most intriguing. Another crisis, you say? I wonder if it has anything to do with the Jamba Hearts that fell from that time…"_

"… _I have no idea what you all are talking about…"_

Magolor waited for the audio to die down. Once it did, he continued his speech. "Now, I am aware that under normal circumstances, such an event would not require us to be meeting up like this. But I'm afraid this isn't your usual, run-of-the-mill crisis this time. It's far, _far_ worse."

Kine piped up, "Is it Dark Matter worse?"

"Even worse than that. I would tell you all here, but I'm afraid my explanations would not suffice with just me alone." The Halcandran directed the Star Allies' attention to the Lor Starcutter, standing right in front of them. "If you would follow me into my ship, I will be able to properly give you a rundown of our current situation." He then proceeded to enter through the open front door, practically beckoning the others after him.

"Whoa, mates," Rick breathed, he and the other Animal Buddies having somehow missed the ship's dominating presence. "When did _that_ get there?"

"Is it me, or is it even bigger than last time?" Coo commented.

"…you _are_ jesting, correct?" Dark Meta Knight asked, a bewildered expression beneath his scarred mask. "It was _right there this whole time._ There is no possible way you could have avoided witnessing it. Are you dullards absolutely _blind?"_

Amidst a volley of 'hey's' and 'no, we're not's', Marx gave an irritating grin and jabbered, "Hey, don't be like that, Darky! If anyone's gonna be jesting here, it can only be me! You think this hat's just for show?"

With yet another groan coming from his mouth, Dark Meta Knight did his best to ignore his half-friend slash half-irritating pest and walked on into the Lor Starcutter, disappointing Marx, who had been eager to see his friend's reaction. "Hey, don't be like that!" he pouted, running in after him. "C'mon, where'd your edgelordiness go? You can show me! Don't be such a tsundere now!"

The rest of Star Allies followed suit: while the Animal Buddies were still confused (as was Gooey, but… Gooey is Gooey, and he's absent-minded in the best of times), they managed to shrug it off. "Well, mates," Rick said, "this may be 'crikey' and all, but we're wastin' daylight here. What are we waiting for?"

"Oh, you're gonna like this place, Taranza!" Adeleine was saying, taking Taranza by the hand and all-but-dashing into the ship's cockpit, with Ribbon following close behind. "It's really cool; I bet you've never seen anything like it!"

"Yeah! It's a technological marvel!"

"Wh-Whoa, wait, s-slow down, A-Adeleine, Ribbon…!"

"So, the Lor is to be our vessel again…" Daroach mused as he entered. "I suppose it'll do, for the purposes of our journey today." He glanced at Doc, who was staring at the ship with an undisguised gleam in his eye. "Gonna have trouble keeping Doc away from the systems, though…"

Susie, too, was analyzing the Lor Starcutter in interest. "So _this_ is what the Ancients' starships looked like," she murmured mournfully. "I… I still find it hard to believe something so beautiful… could come from those that could make…" She cut herself off at the end. "…don't think about it, Susie. Just keep going."

Finally, there was just the four core Star Allies left: Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Bandana Dee. Kirby looked up at the Lor Starcutter they once helped repair over seven years ago, now the bridgeway to quite possibly the most important venture they would ever undertake. "…this is it, guys," he said. Though the skies were still bright, the ship that loomed overhead seemed like a daunting obstacle to overcome. "Once we pass through this door, there's no going back. Whatever's ahead, whatever we may see, we'll have to face it head on." He turned back to the friends he'd known for twenty-six long years, the companions he would trust with his very life—and he'd knew they'd do the same in return. "…are you guys ready?"

Dedede gave out one of his trademark grins. "Heh—what kind of question is that? Of course we're ready for this!" He bopped his best friend's head lightly. "You remember what we said when we faced Void Termina, right? You've got us by your side! And there's no way we'd ever let you do things alone – and everyone else feels the same way, too."

Meta Knight nodded in agreement, almost beaming in a sense of pride. "Through thick and thin," he stated, "we will stick by you, no matter what creatures or demons dare to step in our presence. You have our word—and the knowledge that our weapons will be behind you every step of the way."

"Y-Yeah! I—I may be nervous," Bandana Dee admitted, "b-but… you're a good guy! You're our _friend!_ If I couldn't stay with you at a time like this—I'd have no right to stand by my Great King! S-So…" He pointed his spear to the sky. "L-Let's go and show the bad guys what we're made of, together!"

Kirby smiled. What else did he expect? If Void Termina and his corrupted Soul wasn't enough to dissuade then—well, nothing ever would. It was simple as that. _Meta Knight, Dedede, Bandana Dee… Where would I be without you guys?_ "If that's what you're willing to do… then I'll stand alongside you guys, too," he said. "There's no time to lose! Come on—we've got a galaxy to save."

With that declaration, the four heroes of Pop Star walked on into the Lor Starcutter, and the front door closed shut right behind them.

Whatever awaited them now… they'd—and everyone else—would be there to see things through to the very end.

That… was a promise.

* * *

 **Lor Starcutter – Cockpit**

The Lor Starcutter was a technological marvel, a slick and clean-looking ship from which dimensional travel could be achieved. Several of the sixteen Star Allies stared in awe, be it subdued or on display, as a globe of screens lit up all around them.

Magolor chuckled. Outstretching his hands away from himself, he declared, "Welcome, Star Allies, to my humble abode—the Lor Starcutter. I hope she's not too gaudy for your eyes; I'm not exactly the most artistic of people out there."

Gooey hummed, "Hmm… I think it needs more pictures of food. It'd be nice, to look at food while you live… at least, that's what I think is good. It's good, right, Ado?"

"I can't disagree with you there," Adeleine said (being friends with Kirby gives you a much deeper appreciation for the finer aspects of food), "but it's honestly nice enough as it is. I'm an artist; I should know!"

"Artistry or not," Marx chimed in, "you have to admit all these screens have so much potential—right, guys? I'm itching to do something already, now that we're all here…"

"Something prank-related, I assume," Daroach raised an eyebrow.

"You know me all too well!"

 _As amusing as that would be, Marx,_ a feminine voice rang out through the room, _I must ask that you please refrain from such actions until our current crisis is resolved. It is best to stay focused on one singular task._

"Meanie," Marx pouted. "You never let me have any fun in here."

"That's probably for the best…" Adeleine sighed.

Meanwhile, Taranza and Susie's eyes comically widened at the unknown person's presence. "Wh-Who's there!?" the HWC president uncharacteristically stammered, grabbing her blaster and aiming it all about the walls. "I—I have a blaster! And—and I'm not afraid to use it!"

 _Calm down, Miss Susie,_ the voice consoled her. _I am not your enemy. I am the spirit of the Lor Starcutter. Though you cannot see me, I am here to act as an ally._

"Th-That's what you _want_ me to believe! H-How am I supposed to know you're not gonna possess me and absorb all the knowledge from my brain!?"

"Lor would never do anything like that," Magolor assured the hysterical secretary. "I've been with her for years; if she wanted to do something like that, she would've done it when I first repaired her. You don't have to worry."

Susie didn't looked convinced, but it was enough for her to put her blaster away and reluctantly concede the point to the Halcandran. "…f-fine. B-But I'll be watching her! Watching very closely!"

Dark Meta Knight scoffed. _"This_ is the harlot you quaver at?" he derided his counterpart.

"…she is much more menacing than she appears now," Meta Knight replied—though if one looked carefully, they could see an embarrassed blush show up beneath his mask. "Just—Just ignore her for now."

 _Anyway,_ the Lor continued speaking, _it is good to see that all of you are energized and gathered here today. I do not exaggerate when I say that the road ahead will require all of your strength and determination to end this new threat._

"She's right," Magolor confirmed, steeling his face back into being serious. "Trust me when I say the True Arena honestly has nothing on this."

"So, is it really that bad?" Coo asked. "We've never needed all of us in one spot like this – which worries me a little, actually."

"That doesn't sound good…" Kine worried. "My wife isn't going to like this. Not one bit."

"My… My strength?" Taranza drew his gaze to the floor. "…I don't know if I'd be able to help out, though…"

"How can something be worse than _the True Arena?"_ Adeleine wanted to know, a staggered expression on her face – an expression also worn by the rest of her typical entourage. "That was already the most brutal thing I've ever seen! You're—You're saying we're about to go through something even _crazier!?_ That can't be real!"

Ribbon whimpered. She desperately didn't want to believe it herself. Nobody did.

(Susie and Taranza, meanwhile, clenched their fists. The True Arena was horrible, yes – but to them, it was horrible for entirely different reasons to them.)

"It's true," Kirby spoke up. The other Star Allies all turned to him in surprise. "You guys know I've been through the True Arena five times over now. Magolor's not kidding when he says this is going to be worse than that."

"I found it hard to believe myself," Dedede confided. "Soul Bosses were already a pretty insane threat on their own." At this, Marx and Magolor briefly looked away, a hard grimace appearing on the former's face at the reminder. "…I wish it was something as relatively simple as that now, I really do."

"But we do not have the luxury of hoping for such impossible aspirations," Meta Knight added. "We cannot hesitate in the face of this fresh nightmare. If it is to conclude, then we must be the ones to end it ourselves."

"Y-Yeah!" Bandana Dee expressed his agreement. "Wh-What he said!"

"Well said, you four." Magolor walked up to his ship's computer and started typing things into the keyboard. In the blink of an eye, several windows showed up on the screen, each of them displaying some sort of statistics that barely anybody (i.e. Kirby, Meta Knight, and Susie) understood to any extent.

"As you can see," he began explaining, a hand outstretched in the direction of the monitor, "the Gamble Galaxy is sustained by collective amounts of energies, as you can see from this graph." There was a colorful graph on-screen, displaying a wide assortment of neon colors over a star map of the Gamble Galaxy. "It's what keeps reality stable, and allows life to truly blossom on our planet and others. Several artifacts, such as the Star Rod, often harness this energy to do a wide assortment of things – in this case, give the people of Dream Land good dreams."

"Is _that_ how it works?" Rick asked, his eyes closed in contemplation. "I always thought it was a forcefield or somethin' myself…"

"Sounds dreamy," Gooey unintentionally punned. "I wonder if it tastes as dreamy as it sounds…"

"…Gooey," Dedede said carefully, ruffling his brow, "please don't tell me you're planning to eat the Star Rod. Please tell me no."

"E-Eat the _Star Rod!?"_ Bandana Dee exclaimed in surprise. He nervously laughed, "H-Ha ha ha, you're—you're f-funny. R-Really funny…" Then his face became comically distraught. "Oh NOVA, you're serious, a-aren't you?"

"…is it a bad thing to eat it?"

"Now I regret not seeking it out when we invaded this planet before," Susie muttered to herself. "Such an artifact would most definitely give us the blueprints for a perfect new product… shame."

Meta Knight glared at her. She didn't seem to notice – either that, or she was actively ignoring it. (Either one could be possible, really.)

"Another thing that's important is how **other dimensions** can affect the energies of our dimension. The manipulation of such is what allows things like Warp Holes to open up, or specific individuals to carry powered-up Super Abilities. But if the energy balance between our dimension and others becomes unstable – then we cross into incredibly dangerous territory."

The Halcandran brought up another window: a bar graph presenting the 'energy balance' of the Gamble Galaxy over time. While the past few months showed a consistent moderate amount, the most recent time – that of a scant three hours ago – had a massive spike that was exceptionally discomforting, when combined with Magolor's explanations.

"And that's exactly what's going on now. Three hours ago, while I was traversing the cosmos as usual, a warning came up on my computer. It informed me that due to the influence of 'dark, occult magic'—" He stopped talking for a moment, to let it sink in. "—the dimension simply known as Another Dimension is now unstable and leaking energies to and from ours. Should we fail to resolve this… our way of life will be endangered to the point of no return. The energies will break time and space wide open, and the creatures within will rampage through our dimension until there is nothing left. And that is something we cannot allow."

A silence passed through the cockpit. "…no way," Ribbon breathed.

Dark Meta Knight growled. "…'dark, occult magic'?" he repeated. "That can only be the **Jambandra Cult**. Hmph… I knew we should've taken care of those uncultured swine. Their persistence has proven to be more than irritating now."

"The Jambandra Cult?" Susie looked disturbed. "I hadn't thought them to be real, just… relics of an age no longer relevant to our present. How—how can they still be operating today?"

A scoff came from Meta Knight. "Shouldn't your 'advanced systems'," he said that term in a mocking manner, "have picked up traces of their existence by now? Surely, you could not have missed the influx of negative energy from several months ago."

Susie's face went red, and her eyes averted the knight's cold yellow orbs. "…I was… focused on restructuring the company, then," she muttered, barely audible to the Star Ally's ears. "…I didn't really think much of it…"

"Seriously?" Daroach raised his eyebrow again. "Even _I_ detected it, and my airship is not as advanced as your technology."

"…shut-up-that's-not-important."

 _You all are certainly an astute bunch,_ the Lor complimented them. _It is as you say. The source of this disturbance has been confirmed to be Jambandra Base, located at the edge of the Gamble Galaxy, as I'm sure you all know. A rift in time and space is most definitely present there as well, and should we enter it, I am positive that we shall arrive in Another Dimension. And from there… there is no telling what will await us._

 _I will not sugarcoat this – you shall face great hardships, should you choose to follow us to the edge of the galaxy. Another Dimension is not the World of Peace or the World of Miracles you know so well. It is a dangerous, unfettered anomaly. And any hesitation while in there will bring forth untold amounts of suffering._

 _Knowing that… will you help us bring an end to this galactic crisis?_

… _if you say no, we shall understand. This is not to be taken lightly, and I know that many of you enjoy your comfort here on Pop Star—_

"Oh, shove it in a windpipe, will ya?" Marx suddenly interrupted her. "There's no need for your boring warnings now." She went silent, and everyone turned to the jester in anticipation for his next words.

"I know I may not be the nicest of guys, or even the most well-intentioned. Heck, I tried to take over Pop Star once – which honestly _does_ say a lot about me. But you know what?" He looked up with a determined expression. "There's no way I'm going to be sitting this out, not by a long shot." He glanced over to Kirby. "Don't tell this to the guys back at Cappy Town, 'cause I have a reputation to keep and all, but… I like you guys. I really, really do. So that's why I can't let these occult idiots have their way. You need us to go in and stop them _and_ this ultra-hard dimension stuff? Then sign me up."

Marx's abrupt and unexpected speech caught most of the crowd off guard for a few brief moments. The silence was soon broken by everyone else deciding to throw in their two cents as well.

"As much as it pains me to admit this," Dark Meta Knight said, "I agree with this jester's words. All of you are part of _my_ domain, and the thought of the Jambandra Cult trying to interfere in that dominion _infuriates_ me beyond belief." To everyone else, that was Dark Meta Knight-speak for 'I like you guys and I don't want you hurt.' "Consider my blade one of the many weapons that will be on this journey. I will teach those heretics the meaning of pain for their insolence today."

"We've been through a whole lot together," Adeleine chimed in, "be it five of us hunting down the Crystal Shards, or thirteen of us on a journey to save the galaxy from darkness. And while Ribbon and I haven't been there for most of Kirby's adventures, that doesn't mean I'm going to abandon you guys now!"

"Yeah!" Ribbon agreed. "Her Majesty would never forgive me if I backed out now! Adeleine and I—we're gonna be painting masterpieces for you guys 'til the very end! So let's go in and beat up that Hyness guy already! Who's with me!?"

"We've mostly kept to ourselves over the past few years," Rick admitted, "but that doesn't mean we'll let that continue now. You and Kirby and all our other mates need our help, right? Then count us in! We're gonna ace this, no prob!"

"I've been in the mood to stretch out my wings more, anyway," Coo lazily dismissed. "Need a flight? I'll be happy to give you one – so long as it's not _too_ many people, anyway! I'm getting a bit old, you hear?"

"My wife, Mine… she'll understand the importance of what we're doing here," Kine resolutely stated. "I may not be the most useful of fishes out there, but I'll do my best to help you guys all the same!"

"I like friends," Gooey randomly said. "You guys are my friends. Very good friends. If you want to go somewhere, I'll go somewhere with you, too. That's what matters most, right?"

"…heh. I'm a treasure hunter by trade; a gentleman thief by nature," Daroach recited. "And there's no better thing to steal than the twisted desires of the most distorted villains." That was… probably a reference to something, though nobody in the room knew specifically what to. "We may be simple mice, but the Squeak Squad will never back down from a challenge such as this. Let's not hold back any of our punches now, shall we?"

"…I don't really know most of you aside from Kirby and Dedede," Taranza confided in his new… friends? (Could he call them that?), "but I can see that this is a problem I can't ignore. I—I can't let another Sectonia happen. I can't. And… if I leave this alone… my—my worst fears _will_ come true. I… I don't know why the People of the Sky chose me, b-but… I'll do my best to live up to their expectations by standing by you all. I may only have my spiderwebs and my magic, but I'll put all of my efforts in anyway!"

"I _despise_ Another Dimension," Susie hissed. "It's taken so much from me – my home, my childhood… _my family…"_ (Meta Knight looked particularly startled by that statement. _What?)_ "…so, as long as I breathe, I won't let a single trace of it try to intrude on _my_ destined territory. And if that means having to team up with you guys… then I'll do it with pride if it means I can get what I want. Infinite prosperity doesn't matter now – I _will_ have my vengeance, one way or another. And I won't take no for an answer."

"And you know what _our_ answers are," Dedede grinned, gesturing toward himself and the three other core Star Allies. "We're going to face this crisis head on, with our heads held high and our strides still strong. Because if we didn't, I know that Kirby would just do it alone, and I can't exactly let that happen!" Kirby let out a light laugh, taking the jest in stride, as did Dedede. "As the ruling King of Dream Land, I'll say this: let's go out and kick some butt!"

"W-Well said, G-Great King!" Bandana Dee praised. "I—I'll be beside you, too! My spears will cut any bad guy in their way! J-Just give me the word, and I won't let them past!"

"Do I honestly need to say anything else?" Meta Knight asked. "The others' words are proof enough of our resolve, I believe."

"You hear that, Magolor, Lor?" Kirby finally spoke up, the widest of smiles on his cute little face. "We're gonna face this together – all of us. Friends, enemies, we'll be there all the same. I've never been more proud to call everyone here my friends. So let's get to Jambandra Base already before we get too mushy."

A chorus of agreements rang out from the crowd of Star Allies. Magolor chuckled. "You really know how to pick 'em, Kirby. I can't exactly back down now, either – it'd look bad on my resume, especially when everyone's so eager to fight."

 _If that is everyone's decision, then there is no more time to waste. Gather whoever else you may want to bring, and we shall take off to the edge of the Gamble Galaxy. Let us charge forth and embark on your greatest challenge yet._

* * *

Before long, everyone was prepared for the journey ahead. King Dedede had called in a bunch of his Waddle Dees—'to help with maintenance,' he said, which Magolor greatly appreciated—and Daroach had his Squeak Squad—Doc, Storo, Spinni, and the little Squeakers—also ready to help if needed.

Doc had to be restrained from tinkering with the Lor Starcutter's systems, given that he was a scientist and a technician by nature – but otherwise, there wasn't anything blocking the Star Allies from moving on forward.

Everyone else was preparing in their own way: Rick, Kine, and Coo were resting as to conserve their strength; Adeleine and Ribbon were practicing their painting skills while Gooey watched; Meta Knight and Dark Meta Knight fought with a couple of dummies in order to keep their sword expertise sharp…

Marx was flying about and dropping balls everywhere for giggles; Daroach was in the corner, strategizing over the journey to come; Dedede and Taranza were having an insightful conversation, with Bandana Dee joining in wherever he could; Susie had brought out a Nintendo 3DS of her own and was looking over the screens…

It was a sight to behold, the likes of which very few people in the multiverse would be able to see. Kirby watched over the scene with a smile. _These are the things I want to keep the most, here,_ he thought. _My friends, being able to live out their lives in bliss and happiness, just as they've always had. There's nothing that matters to be more than to be able to see that dream continue on._

 _And I won't let the Jambandra Cult shatter their happiness in their desires to revive their Dark Lord. If they want to try, we'll fight them 'til the bitter end. That's how strong our friendship as the Star Allies is._

… _I'm ready. This is what everything has been leading up to._

 _We're gonna save the galaxy—no, the_ _ **universe**_ _again._

 _And nothing's gonna stop us now!_

Over the intercom – which was required for anyone to be heard over the volume at this point – Magolor said to everyone, _"Okay, Star Allies! It's time to make our way from Dream Land all the way to the Jambandra Base! Make sure all of your belongings are on you, because we won't be coming back until our goal has been reached. Is everybody ready?"_

A synchronized **"Yeah!"** rang out through the room.

" _Alright then! We have liftoff in three… two… one! HERE WE GO!"_

At last, the Lor Starcutter took off from the ground, and shot off into space. Cheers and ecstatic shouts echoed off of every wall, absolutely deafening anything else in the room. Kirby's smile, if possible, got even bigger.

"Okay, everybody!" he shouted, wanting to do one last thing before things truly got started. "All together now: let's go, _Star Allies!"_

" **Let's go,** _ **Star Allies!"**_

And so, with that final declaration, a new adventure began. A quest to another dimension, in order to save the Gamble Galaxy again, and perhaps, to save those who never knew they needed saving. It was going to be a long and arduous venture, but there was no need to fear. After all…

…the Star Allies had each other's backs!

* * *

 **This is, like, the single longest chapter I have ever written in my life. Holy crap.**

 **I probably shouldn't be uploading this, considering I have several other fics going on at the same time – but with** _ **Kirby: Star Allies'**_ **latest update finally out there, there's no way I could wait to post anything about it.**

 **This will be a full-on adaptation of the post-game mode** _ **Heroes in Another Dimension,**_ **featuring all sixteen main Star Allies and their usual characterizations as per what I've written thus far in the** Make a Friend **series. Because of the large ensemble cast this time around, I've elected to go third-person so I can get the most out of each character's perspective—so sorry if you're hoping to see their thoughts as usual! Stuff like that is better relegated to when I don't have to such a massive cast out from the get-go, given the source material I'm using.**

 **I don't exactly know how long this'll turn out (in terms of word count, at least) – I'm doing this on a whim since I love the** _ **Kirby**_ **franchise so much – but I promise you, I'll get it done. If this chapter is any indication, it's certainly going to be an interesting ride.**

 _ **Heroes in Another Dimension**_ **was pretty awesome – true to HAL's word, it was the EX Mode we should've gotten from the start. And, uhh… they really meant it when they said 'EX Mode'. I don't think I've ever gotten my butt kicked quite as hard with the previous EX Bosses (and levels) as this one, and the final boss is absolutely brutal with their constant screen-nukes – and that's not even mentioning the new true final boss awaiting at the end of Soul Melter EX. (I'll see what I can do about that one too, but no promises right now.) I hope I'll be able to capture the more brutal nature of this mode compared to even what I wrote in** Grit Your Teeth and Go **, so wish me luck, everybody!**

 **Some other things to note: the idea of the Lor Starcutter having a voice was inspired by a different fic,** Just Another Day in Dream Land **(written by average_egg), and since the Lor Starcutter has been implied to be somewhat sentient before, I decided to go and make it canon to my 'verse. Why not?**

 _ **Heroes in Another Dimension**_ **proper begins with Kirby just abruptly being at the Divine Terminus already with no real backstory as to what he's doing there or what's going on. Since I like me stories we detail, I couldn't let that slide, so instead of that you get a massive monster of an opening chapter instead.**

 **Since Magolor is the most technologically-versed of the crew, I think he'd make a good explanation for how the Star Allies found out about the newest crisis. He** _ **has**_ **been known to travel to other dimensions, after all; it only makes sense that he'd be able to detect dimensional problems as well.**

 **I'm not going to be leaving any Dream Friends out – all of them will be adventuring with Kirby through each dimension, and I don't care if it really shouldn't be that way. I've always liked the idea of Kirby going on a massive adventure with his friends, and—well, this is exactly the type of thing I asked for. Besides, due to the way I wrote things, the Wave 3 Dream Friends didn't get to be in** _ **Star Allies'**_ **main campaign, so you can consider this my apology of sorts.**

 **Phew! I don't think I've rambled this much in a long,** _ **long**_ **while. It's time for me to sign off now. Next time, the adventure really gets going in Another Dimension. See you then!**


	2. Welcome to Another Dimension

**Star Allies, Unite!**

 _ **Chapter 2  
**_ _Welcome to Another Dimension_

(Uploaded on December 20, 2018)

* * *

 **Summary:** A familiar, star-shaped Warp Hole stood alone in the Divine Terminus, and inside awaited a nightmarish reality, where no hope could be made—only extinguished. But to Kirby, that didn't matter – he and his friends would charge in head-first, and together, they'd find a way to make a happy ending.

(Because how could he call himself a hero if he didn't at least try?)

 **Notes:** This chapter covers the first portion of _Heroes'_ first level _,_ **Dimension I**.

* * *

 _The wind howled furiously past her ears, bringing with it a hailstorm too deep for her to see through, and a blistering cold too freezing for her to stop anytime soon. Her surroundings were completely whitened out, and the ground below her several inches deep; a testament to just how terrible the blizzard striking Blizzno Moon truly was._

 _But as much as she wanted so dearly to right now, the girl couldn't stop. She had no place to stop. She had no_ way _to stop. She had to continue onward, no matter how blue she currently looked or felt._ _(There was nothing else she_ could _do.)_ _And thus, though the only things she had on her were a light pair of clothes with very little protection, she kept trudging on through the bitter, bitter weather._

T-T-This is…! _she thought, her teeth clattering._ T-This is… t-too… c-c-c- **cold…!** B-B-But… I h-have to… have to f-f-find…!

 _Once, in earlier, happier times, she had family by her side – a twin sibling, who always stood by her through thick-and-thin, no matter what happened; and an elder sister, who cherished the both of them as the last remaining lights in her life. They would frolic and play and laugh and be happy together, while their father watched a soft smile on his face. They were a trio with an unbreakable connection, an inseparable existence—_

— _yet, here she was now, suffering through the after-effects of an indeed-broken connection._

 _And she barely even knew where it all went so wrong._

 _One moment, everything was okay, and the next thing she knew—_

 _She was just so… so…_

… _ **empty.**_

 _(…did she always feel so lost?)_

C-C-Can't… t-think… _her mind glazed over._ M-Must… k-keep… m-m-m-moving…

 _The wind picked up, hail flinging past her face with increasing intensity. She didn't even know where she was going anymore, or even if there was shelter around—but she forced herself to keep walking either way._

 _It didn't matter where she was or what was happening; she had only one goal in mind: she needed to survive and find her sisters._

 _Survive and find her sisters._

 _Survive—and find. Her._ Sisters.

 _So long as she had the strength to do that… then nothing else in the world mattered to her._

 _But the rest of the world made it its mission to_ make _itself matter – in all the worst ways possible._

 _Soon, she was too frozen to function, her limbs too numb to take any further step forward. She let out a weak yelp and tumbled into the snow still building up, a virtual avalanche of frostbite practically falling on top of her._ _"N-_ No!" _she cried, stretching out her hand in a desperate attempt to continue moving onward. "I c-c-can't… I c-can't stop h-h-here! T-They're w-waiting—they're s-still w-waiting f-for me!"_

 _Much to her dismay, however… she was out of strength. She couldn't go on. "M-Move, d-damn it!" she pleaded. "M-_ Move!" _But no matter how much she willed her body to even shake, it refused to do as she wanted._

 _This was it._

 _She was done._

 _She was absolutely, positively—_

 _D-o-n-e._

 _This snowstorm, which she had tried her hardest to fight off, her hardest to survive against—had finally, utterly,_ _ **defeated**_ _her._

 _And the only thing she had to show for it… was a volley of tears, steadily dripping down her distraught face. "T-T-This c-can't be… t-the end…!" she clattered. With the cold beginning to become too much for her, she curled her body up and hugged herself in an attempt to keep what little warmth she had left._

 _Snow piled up around her, and the wind mercilessly blew past her feeble face – and all she could do was lay on the ground as she slowly—but surely—froze to death. With nothing else left, she began to recall the two people most precious to her._

" _B-B-Berge…" she choked softly." (Her fiery sibling, fighting onward with her tenacity—) "Z-Z-Zan…" (Her precious elder sister, cuddling the two of them as hard as she could—) Their faces flashed by one more time as her vision blurred out. "I-I-I-I'm… I'm s-s-sorr-r-r-r…"_

 _Finally, her eyes closed shut, and she at last succumbed to the wills of the weather._

 _This was it._

 _This… was… it…_

…

…

…

…

"… _Goppoko!? L-Little girl, are you alright!?"_

 _Something stirred from within her. Just in time, a voice managed to hit her ears—and a figure, presumably her savior, picked her up and kept her awake._

…who… who's… there…? _she mentally wheezed._

" _This is terrible!" the voice continued—sounding kind, almost sympathetic; and it almost made her think that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't a desperate hallucination. "You are—you are just too cold! I can't just let you die here!" His tone turned distressed: "But there is nowhere I can go for aid, and if I do not do something soon…"_

…heh heh… _she weakly laughed in her mind._ It's… It's nice to… have someone… wanting to help… but… it's… already… too late… for me…

 _But just when all hope was lost… "…no, wait. There is still one more thing I can do…" A warm sensation suddenly began to travel through her body, the mysterious stranger chanting something barely audible to her ears. She didn't understand it at all – none of her family knew or taught anything but a single language – but as the chanting grew louder and louder, so too did the feeling beneath her skin._

 _It was… nice._

 _It was cold, sure… but it was a different kind of cold._

 _It was a_ warm _kind of cold, if that made any sense._

 _And before too long… a rush of adrenaline shot through her body, her energy reserves instantly replenished, with the cold finally bothering her no longer. Now, it felt… natural, like an old friend she never knew she had._

 _But, most importantly of all… she was_ _ **alive.**_ _Alive and living and free to seek out her sisters—and she had this kind stranger to thank for that._

 _Her eyes shot open, and quickly, she flew out of the stranger's arms. She felt no numbness from the bitter atmosphere that had assaulted her earlier – in fact, it was basically like it had never existed at all. "This is… This is amazing…!" she whispered. "I'm… I'm alive… I'm actually alive…!" She laughed, a little hysterically, at the miracle that had come before her – the miracle of life which she once took for granted._

 _She turned to the kind stranger. He was a strange figure. His clothes were nothing to talk about, being bright white robes with gold trimmings at the edges. (The sleeves seemed too long for him, though.) His face, however, was a different story entirely: his nose was big and drooping, his ears were striped yellow and blue, and his eyes were just the same. It was like looking into the eyes of madness._

 _But despite all that, there was a warmth and softness to him that felt noble and genuine. And the girl certainly couldn't let that go unrewarded._

" _T-Thank you so much!" she stated. "I… I thought I was going to die out here!"_ Die and have my sisters never really live again because I won't be there— _"B-But…" Now that she thought about it… "…why did you save me? M-Most… Most people wouldn't do something like that…"_

 _The crazy-eyed stranger smiled. "You were freezing," he put simply. "That was a vun jorrow thing that I could not let happen. It would break my heart – and I am sure it would break yours as well."_

" _O-Oh… O-Okay. That's… That's good to hear." Altruistic people were hard to find on out-of-the-way satellites like this; it was good that he was at least one of them. Then, she realized—"H-Hey, what's your name?" she asked. "Dad—Dad always… told me and my sisters never to talk to strangers you don't know…"_

 _She frowned and drew her eyes to the floor._

 _Her father…_

 _Just like her sisters, he was another big part of her life, the kind of part that seemed like it would last a very long time—except, the last thing she saw him, he was…_

' _Franny! Berge! Zan! R-_ _ **RUN—!"**_

…

Dad… Why…?

"… _Little girl? What's wrong?" the stranger asked in concern. "You… You okay? Did… Did something happen to your family? Your father…?"_

"… _Dad… Dad's not… here. He's… He's gone." And boy,_ that _still hurt to admit to herself. How could it not, when she was still so young, and not supposed to be thinking about topics like this?_

" _O-Oh!" The stranger had not expected this. "I—I'm sorry! Japologa vun."_

" _N-No, it's okay. I—I think… it doesn't bother me anymore." That was a lie of epic proportions – but there was nothing else she could tell herself. (She was already struggling to keep herself together.) "B-But my sisters… Berge, Zan, they're still out there somewhere! And I need to find them. I—I don't want to let them…"_

 _A brief moment of silence._

"… _I get it," the stranger nodded. "You want to make sure they're safe." Briefly, he brought his gaze to the sky—or tried to; it was still blocked out by the massive blizzard—and then he brought it back to the young girl. "Say, little girl… Would you like to come with me, to find your siblings?" The girl looked up at him in surprise. "I have knowledge in how to travel space myself. If you would grant it, we could perhaps look for them together…?"_

 _She knew she should've hesitated—but after her near-death experience moments before… "Y-Yes!" she exclaimed. "I'll—I'll do it! T-Thank you again, M-Mister!"_

" _Oh, you don't need to call me that. I am_ _ **Hyness**_ _, an officiant of the gods above. Who are you, pray tell?"_

" _My name's_ _ **Francisca**_ _. It's—It's nice to meet you, Mr. Hyness!"_

* * *

 **[King Dedede]**

 **Gamble Galaxy  
Lor Starcutter – Cockpit**

Watching the stars fly by from the window didn't do my nerves any favors. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to pass by both familiar constellations and planets – Aqua Star's still as weird-looking as always, on that note, how the heck does it stay up like that – but every time I let my guard down a little… I keep remembering that we're basically about to go into the depths of darkness.

Now, mind you, I haven't been in as deep as Kirby has. I mean, out of the five True Arenas that's been hosted in the Gamble Galaxy, I've only personally been involved in two of them. (And by 'personally been involved', I mean 'actually doing the gauntlet'.) But that doesn't mean I don't know how bad this situation is. Two True Arenas is two too much, in my opinion.

I sighed, sitting my arm by the window's edge and letting my head lean on it. I remember Another Dimension. It was the place where half of Magolor's Energy Spheres were… and also the location in which we beat his traitorous behind… twice. (I wonder if the True Arena is just cursed to have Soul Bosses, or something… Seriously, all five times, there's been one. Sheesh, what's up with _that?)_ I don't know all too much about it other than the place alternates between drab color schemes and blue Aurora Borealis all over the sky, but knowing that it's where the Sphere Doomers originate… well, that tells me enough.

…you know, sometimes, I wish that these kind of things didn't happen so often. Every two-or-so years, we get dragged into galaxy-threatening events like this because some chuckleheads out there see our planet as some sort of cosmic plaything. I get it, we're the World of Miracles: the Fountain of Dreams and the Dream Palaces are proof enough of that fact.

It's just that—sometimes, it _sucks_ having to be so serious half the time.

It really, really does.

"Great King? Are you okay?" Instantly, my face softened, and I turned to see my good assistant Bandana Dee walk up to me. True to his gentle, all-loving nature, he was staring at me with raw concern in his eyes. "You… You look pretty worried, just looking out the window like that… Is something wrong?"

I made a sympathetic expression. "I'm… I'm alright, Dee," I answered. "I'm just thinking." _Thinking about things I wish I couldn't be thinking about._ "You don't need to worry."

Dee waddled over to my side and joined me in my impromptu stargazing session. In our heads, we counted all the brightest stars as we passed them by. There were a lot of them. Quite a lot.

"…I'm getting too old for this," I chuckled lowly. "Doing this kind of thing every year is gonna make all my hair go gray, I swear."

"But Great King," Dee started replying in confusion, "you don't have any hair."

I grinned. "Proves my point! All the hair turned gray and then it fell out. Simple as that!"

Despite the situation, Bandana Dee started to giggle himself. "I—I don't think hair works like that, but—okay, Great King!" We laughed together a little, and for a minute, it was like we were back home in my castle, enjoying another day in lazy, sleepy Dream Land, about to open up the cake fridge for Kirby's daily slice of strawberry shortcake.

Man… I remember when Kirby and I were bitter enemies, once upon a time. Heh heh… Ten years can go by before you even know it.

We sat there a little while longer, just enjoying the sense of serenity around us – and doing our best to ignore the hyperactive chaos going on elsewhere in the cockpit. When you have a team of colorful personalities like the Star Allies, there's no such thing as 'a quiet, normal day'.

 _(Marx's voice drifted into range: "C'mon, guys—if you want this paintbrush back, you'll have to work for it~!"_

" _No fair, Marx!" Adeleine protested, Ribbon following close behind. "Give it back!")_

"…I like this," I finally said, a smile coming onto my face. "This—this chaos… It's really something else, y'know?" I shook my head. "The heroes and villains and in-betweens of Pop Star gathered together like this… there's nothing else in the galaxy like it."

Really, there wasn't. In another dimension, maybe (no, not the one you're thinking of), but otherwise? We're one-of-a-kind. "There really isn't," Dee agreed. His eyes lit up. "It's so great! All of us friends, ready for another adventure… Even though I know that this is something serious, I can't help but enjoy our time! E-Especially with you, Great King! It wouldn't be as good as it is without you!"

"Ain't that the truth!" I smiled and joked, "Look at me, the great King Dedede, offering his blessings on this trip through the cosmos. Makes it all the more perfect!"

"I dunno," a voice teased—Kirby's voice, of course; who else would it be—and sure enough, the Super Tuff Pink Puff himself came into view, equally as jovial as the two of us. "I think perfect may be stretching it a bit. Didn't you just say you were getting on in years? I don't think people would like being blessed by an old man now."

"You're one to talk, Mr. 'I'm-a-Thousand-Years-Old'," I fired back in rhythm. (Ah, friendly banter! The perfect identification of a strong bond.)

"Hey—at least, by my species' standards, I'm still a spring chick. Chicken. Puffball. Whatever noun fits in that slot."

"And there goes your memory, too." We laughed for quite a while longer, just me and him and Dee on the sidelines.

"…it's been a while since we last touched upon Another Dimension," Kirby recalled. "What do you think we'll find there this time? More Sphere Doomers? More black voids trying to squash us? EX Bosses, even? There's a lot of things that could pop up, and we might even be unprepared for it."

"Well, that's what you and I are here for, right?" I said to him. "And everyone else, too. Like Meta Knight said, we and our weapons will be right by your side. Just tell me where to smash the hammer and I'll be right on it!"

"Don't forget my spear!" Bandana Dee chimed in. "I've gotten even better at using it since we last went out, trust me!"

"Better enough for Smash?" Kirby teased.

"Maybe! Either way, I hope I can be as helpful as always!"

It doesn't matter in the end what gets thrown our way – there can be all the Soul Bosses in the galaxy down in Another Dimension and I still wouldn't hesitate to start fighting. None of us would. For however colorful and clashing we may be, we're fighters, friends, and heroes above all – and with Kirby leading us on, we'll take down anything that comes our way.

Kirby… He's the one that's brought us all together like this. The Ultimate Friend Maker who charges forth and makes anybody a treasured companion – whether they want it or not (or, in his words, 'want it or just subconsciously want it'). The former eternal nemesis who I now consider my best friend. Pop Star doesn't consider him their valued savior for nothing – and without him, I wouldn't be standing where I am today.

I used to be lazy, arrogant, an honestly terrible king – so terrible I was willing to steal everyone's food; which is still an embarrassing time to remember – but now I've become strong, compassionate, a benevolent king beloved by all (and a great leader, too!) – and I've got Kirby to thank for that. That really shows just how much of a friend he can really be, to all of us.

He's the miracle in our hearts that made us who we are.

And now's never been a better time to repay him for that.

So, yeah, you better bet that I'm gonna be there to save the galaxy again.

With Kirby, Dee, and the rest of my friends here… there's nowhere else I'd rather be!

(Except maybe back in Castle Dedede celebrating with everyone else, of course.)

* * *

 **[N/A]**

 **Jambandra Base  
Entrance**

"Here we are," Magolor stated. "Jambandra Base."

After a flight that had seemed to take far too long for a ship as advanced as Magolor's—the unstable energies surrounding the Jambandra Base had meant it was too risky to just warp there, the Halcandran had explained—the Lor Starcutter had finally docked at its destination.

The fortified visage of the Jambandra Cult's abode once more towered over the Star Allies as they came out one-by-one from the Lor's entrance. It looked no worse for wear than the first time they had stormed in… though there was definitely a more eerie atmosphere to its presence this time around.

"Hmph." Dark Meta Knight took one look at the place and sneered a perfect sneer (an edgelord had to keep up with his edgelordiness, after all). "This abysmal-looking fortress hasn't changed one bit," he snorted. "The concept of decoration must still elude these heretics with every step."

"Well, what did you expect?" Marx dryly asked. "Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows plastered all over the walls?" Then he got a contemplative look – a look that no one ever wanted to him to have. "Hmm… Maybe I should redecorate this place for them, then… I've got some paint cans still sitting back home, and they're not going anywhere!"

"Is that really a good idea, mate?" Rick wondered, scratching himself a bit. "This is our enemies we're talkin' about. Y'know, the crazy occult dudes. There's no need to stir up the hornet's nest like that; we already have enough to deal with."

"Who cares?" Coo interrupted. "I'm about ready to fly up to their rooms and smack them silly myself! In fact, I'm gonna go do that now!" The violet owl started flapping his wings, prepared to take off; Taranza, thinking fast, promptly activated his Web Hold and trapping Coo in it. "Hey!" he protested. "Put me down right now!"

"Don't fly off!" the Floralia regent pleaded. "It's—It's dangerous in there! Remember what Magolor told us earlier? We have to stick together!"

"I can handle this fine by myself, buddy!" the stubborn bird insisted. "I've been doing this longer than you have! Now lemme outta here already!"

Kine sighed, an impressive maneuver for an upright fish. "He's gonna be like this for a while," he lamented. "We might want to get a move on before he starts lecturing us about something… and doesn't stop."

Ribbon looked up at the fortress and shivered. "Th-This place still gives me the c-creeps," she said. This may have been her third visit, but she wasn't any more comfortable now than her first time coming. "I—I wish we didn't _have_ to c-come back here…"

"I wish we didn't have to either, Ribbon," Adeleine consoled her friend, tightening the grip on her paintbrush. "But I don't think these guys are ever going to learn." _If twice wasn't enough for them,_ she thought, _then third time won't be the charm._

Susie, meanwhile, was staring in something resembling awe. "Such a spectacular building structure…!" she breathed. "Were it not for our dire circumstances, I would have my employees document this place's blueprints immediately."

Meta Knight snorted, though it wasn't as abrasive a snort as before. "That's _if_ you can get any service in this lawless palace," he deadpanned.

"Hey, I'm sure there's _some_ semblance of service here!" Kirby piped up. He pulled out his Warp Star Phone, which looked so ancient by today's standards that it had Susie gagging at its mere appearance. _("You—You still_ _ **use**_ _outdated tech like that!?"_ she gagged. _"I have got to hook you up with one of our products…")_ "My Warp Star Phone's getting reception alright; I don't see the problem here!"

"I… I think that's because it's a phone for _Warp Stars,"_ Dedede said. "Not for actually calling anybody."

"How does it even work though?" Bandana Dee began to wonder. "Is your Warp Star a satellite? C- _Can_ satellites even do that?" His eyes promptly went dizzy from all the thinking. "I—I think my brain's hurting now…"

"Don't worry," Gooey said, "if your brain hurts, I'll lick it. Then the hurt will go away."

"Umm… t-thank you, Gooey…?" _I, uh… think that might make it hurt worse…_

While everyone else was giving their own comments about the Jambandra Cult's terrible sense of exterior design (and interior design), Daroach – with his Squeak Squad following close behind silently – began to sniff the air, his eyes narrowed in interest. He coughed loudly into his hand— _"A-hem!"_ —which made everyone stop and turn to him, listening intently. "Something's not right, everyone," he stated. "Listen."

They did. An eerie silence fell through the area, devoid of any traces of wind or even signals of life. It made the already menacing area seem even more haunting.

"…I don't get it, Dar-Dar," Marx said, slipping in his usual nicknames for everyone. _"What's_ not right? There's… nothing here…" His irises widened in realization – and it seemed everyone else was coming to the same conclusion as well.

"…that's exactly it," Dedede said aloud. "There's _nothing._ The Jambandra Cult should've seen us coming a mile away. If _I_ got a heads-up about an invasion force, I'd have all my guards get up and be ready to defend my castle."

"Now that you mention it…" Dark Meta Knight got out his sword in caution. "There is an unusual amount of silence in this region, far unexpected from that of these admittedly somewhat-competent heretics… Was their defeats months back a deterrent to their morale? Or have they finally comprehended how much more powerful our blades are in comparison to their peasant-level skills?"

"That can't be it," Adeleine replied, "they were just fine when we went for them a week after our adventure in March." (Savvy readers might recognize her references to a certain 'Guest Star' venture; _Ribbon, Dark Meta Knight, Daroach, Marx, and I make a good team,_ _if I do say so myself,_ she internally mused.) "If they didn't not attack us then, they wouldn't do so now."

"So… does that mean it's safe to… walk in?" Taranza nervously queried, still making sure to keep a good grip on his Web Hold. "If—If no one's come out now, th-then… we s-shouldn't have any problems… r-right?"

(Coo was yelling now, and the arachnid visibly looked like he was trying his best to ignore it. _"You see!? I can go out and show those girls a thing or two! Come on, lemme go, lemme go!"_

" _Coo, that's just rude! You can't have a go at 'em like that!"_

" _They tried to attack our world; they very well deserve it!")_

"Well, you heard Taranza, everyone," Kirby shrugged. In a flash, he activated one of his long-held **Copy Essence Deluxes** —and lo and behold, a familiar sword and green hat had come to him. (It never hurt to have a good Copy Ability on hand.) "Let's take this carefully now, guys," he advised. "This might be a ruse. It might not be. But either way, it's best to be on our guard."

"Wise words, Kirby," Meta Knight approved. "Enough talking, then. Let us explore this fortified fortress once more, and put an end to this crisis once and for all." He turned to Magolor and asked him an important question, eyes periodically glancing at the docked Lor Starcutter, "Will your vessel be alright once we leave? There may be no enemies in sight, but there is still a great risk leaving it here."

"Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine," Magolor shrugged. "Dedede's Waddle Dees can take care of it fine, methinks."

"You can count on them!" Dedede confidently declared. "They can do anything so long as they put their minds to it! You've got nothing to fear, trust me!"

"Yeah!" Bandana Dee jumped up and down. "They can do it! They can do it!" he chanted. "Go, Waddle Dees!" His enthusiasm, though tinged with a bit of nervousness, spoke proudly of his species' skill in defending territories. So much so that it was hard to fault him for it.

"Then I will trust your judgement," the noble knight acquiesced. "Very well—let us be off!"

* * *

 **The Divine Terminus – Hallway**

A dark ambience filled every square inch and corner of the once-comparatively lively Jambandra Base, all the way up to the dreaded Divine Terminus from which Void Termina had first been reborn. The only sound echoing off the walls were the steady footsteps of the sixteen Star Allies, carefully making their way through the abandoned halls, wary of any threat that could show up. It was an unpleasant feeling, seeing as how there were no enemies around or any traps active – though admittedly, the latter was plenty relieving, given how many close shaves they had with death with the crushing blocks several months ago.

"…it's too quiet," Rick muttered, looking around the hallway with suspicion. "Way, _way_ too quiet. Did—Did everyone just pack up and leave, or is somethin' else goin' on?"

"It might have something to do with whatever ritual Hyness tried," Kirby suggested, his sword now lit up on fire and being used as a makeshift torch. "Maybe they panicked and abandoned him when they felt things get weird, or they got involved in it and couldn't spare any resources to defend the base. Or maybe they decided to quit their jobs and became the best of friends." He did the best impression of a shrug he could pull off, though it was kind of diminished by the fact that he was currently holding something. "Who knows? I hope it's the latter, but I won't bet on it."

"An energy reading of the magnitude I detected can't have gone unnoticed – especially when the majority of the Jambandra Cult resides so close to the source," Magolor added. "The middle option is the most likely… which doesn't bode well for what we'll have to face."

 _Well, that's great,_ the puffball mentally sighed. _It's always something._

Susie gave an unladylike snort. "Talk about unorganized," she snidely said. "If this was the Haltmann Works Company, my subordinates would most certainly have the sense to split our resources to both offensive _and_ defensive strategies. This cult clearly doesn't have any common sense in that regard. Or common sense in anything, for that matter."

"Are—Are we c-close to the a-altar, y-yet?" Bandana Dee nervously inquired, his eyes darting all about the walls as if a monster could pop out at any moment. (Given the nature of the Jambandra Cult, he was honestly right to worry.) "It's… It's g-getting too—too c-creepy around here…!"

"I don't think it's a problem," Gooey drooled. "Everybody seems alright right now."

Just behind him, Adeleine bit her tongue to try and keep from saying anything to the contrary. Ribbon had no qualms about that. "G-Gooey," she said, "I… I don't think 'everybody' applies h-here…" Taranza was testament to that, at least – the poor boy was shaking in his boots, though he managed to retain enough semblance of mind to keep a hold on Coo.

"Why not? We can handle it, I think. We're friends. Friends can do anything with friendship. That's what Kirby says, anyway."

"Yep!" Kirby reaffirmed his words. "C'mon, Dee, Ribbon—we can do this, no prob! You just gotta believe a little, y'know?"

"W-Well…" Bandana Dee sighed. "If you s-say so, Kirby."

"We'll take your word for it, then!" Ribbon chimed in as well.

Dark Meta Knight raised an eyebrow beneath his mask. "You people certainly love using the words 'friend' and 'friendship', don't you," he quietly remarked. "N-Not that it doesn't bother me, or anything…"

"Aww, is our favorite edgelordy knight being all tsundere again?" Marx teased with a great big smile on his face. "Don't worry, we all appreciate you for who you are!"

A grumble. "…shut up."

The group continued their trek through the fortress, finding every hallway and room equally as deserted as the last few. It wasn't all bad though, as their lively conversations and antics at least kept the atmosphere from feeling too oppressively hostile – though some of them would admit, even seeing the Three Mage-Sisters come to do battle with them would alleviate their worries a little, as contradictory as that sounds.

Finally, the Star Allies arrived at the hallway before the altar, same as the first trek through the Jambandra Base – with the Copy Essences from before curiously deactivated, for whatever reason. (Not a problem; after all, Kirby still had the Deluxe versions with him.) The tranquil, almost transcendent skies of the cosmos would normally create a 'calm before the storm' sort of calm… were it not for the intense feeling of inherent _wrongness_ emanating from the doorway.

The Star Allies reacted appropriately. "What… What is this?" Meta Knight asked with a grimace. "Such a dark undercurrent… What, exactly, has the Jambandra Cult unleashed on us now?"

Magolor whipped out his Nintendo 3DS again, and gaped in shock. "These readings…" he breathed. "I've never seen anything like it! When the Lor said Another Dimension was unstable, I hadn't expected this…!"

Susie started gagging, staying the furthest back from the door out of everyone else. "Blegh!" she coughed, keeling over with a strong grimace on her face. Bad memories were rising up to the surface of her mind, quite against her will. "It… It's just… as bad… as I remember… Oh dear, sweet Haltmann…"

"S-Susie!" Immediately, Taranza dropped Coo—who gave out an indignant squawk at his handling—and rushed over to the CEO's side. "Are—Are you alright!?"

She flinched when he came— _Has she never known kindness in her life?_ he briefly wondered—before she softly replied, "I'm—I'm fine, th-thank you for asking. It—It's inappropriate of me as company CEO to—to react in such an uncouth manner. I apologize."

"You don't need to," Daroach stated, his eyes steeling themselves at the presence of the dark energy. "Anyone would do that when faced with this. Professional thief though I may be, even I can't believe how much this feels like Dark Nebula…"

"Wh-Who now?" the other two both asked.

"It's a long story, but trust me when I say it isn't a good thing."

Kirby and Dedede gripped their weapons just a little tighter – being at the forefront of the crowd of Star Allies, they couldn't allow themselves to let a single threat pass by them. They locked their eyes at each other, determined gazes staring back-to-back, and then they nodded together. "Alright guys," Kirby said to everyone. They stopped their mutterings to look at the two leaders, with Meta Knight and Bandana Dee skootching in beside them – for a single moment, the puffball truly looked like the Pink Terror the True Arena often referred to him as. "On the count of three!"

Magolor, Taranza, and Susie tensed, magic and technology flaring up by their hands.

"One…"

Adeleine, Ribbon, Dark Meta Knight, and Daroach aimed their weapons in front of them, ready for a fight.

"Two…"

Rick, Kine, Coo, Gooey, and Marx glared defiantly at the entrance to the altar.

" _Three!"_

The four core Star Allies—Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Bandana Dee—busted the door open as hard as they could, and they—plus their remaining twelve companions—proceeded to rush on in.

* * *

 **The Divine Terminus – Altar**

The sight before them was not at all pleasing to see.

"It's—!" Bandana Dee stammered, sweat practically pouring down his head. "It's a **Warp Hole!** G-Guys, it's a Warp Hole!"

Indeed, a familiar star-shaped portal rested in the center of the altar, clearly the result of whatever weird magic Lord Hyness, the Officiant of Doom, had tried as of late. The outer rims of it was a dark, oppressive blue, and the inside of it glowed with an unsettling neon cyan. It swirled and spun with a sense of impudence, in a way; the 'Lor Reconstruction' crew of years past half-expected a Sphere Doomer to come on out of it and attack them right then and there. (They were rather cheap in that regard.)

Kirby stared grimly at the interdimensional Warp Hole. "Yeah, we can see that," he replied. "It's Another Dimension, alright…"

If that was all, it wouldn't be so bad – but, just like the door before it, the portal was emanating negativity at an extreme rate, far too unhealthy for the atmosphere to comfortably handle. _It feels just like Zero,_ the hero of Dream Land thought, _only_ _ **worse.**_

"And here I thought I'd never have to see that again," Dedede muttered. "I'm getting bad memories just looking at it."

"Indeed," Meta Knight agreed. "That wall often came far too close for comfort…"

 _Tell me about it. I couldn't tell you how many times I had to spit a Star Bullet back at it…_ (Honestly, that still made very little sense even to Kirby's mind but—it worked.)

As the other Star Allies trickled in, the majority started to shiver at the sight of the portal. Marx immediately started gagging. "O-Oh, sweet NOVA!" he choked. "Th-This feeling…! I don't even…!" Something came rising up his mouth. "I—I think I'm gonna hurl!" he realized. He ducked off to the side and proceeded to do just that, much to the disgust of his half-friend, half-fun-irritant Dark Meta Knight.

"H-How… uncivilized…" the mirror knight said, but his voice held none of his usual harsh undertones, for he too was unsettled by the imminent darkness. (Just because he was a _dark_ creature didn't mean he was exactly 'in tune' with it.) _D-Dark Mind was never like this!_ he even noted. _What has this blasted cult summoned to this realm!?_

"I dunno, mate," Rick said from behind him, barely holding back his own vomit, "I think I wanna do the same thing myself. Crikey…"

Ribbon whimpered. So did Adeleine, to a slightly lesser extent. Taranza took a step back; Magolor was operating his 3DS like mad; Daroach brought the rim of his top hat down; Gooey… drooled; Susie was literally quaking in her boots, though she tried not to show it (again, bad memories); and Kine and Coo were taking several large steps back in horror. "…you know what? I'm thinking I _really_ don't want to do this right now," the old owl remarked.

"…Mine's never gonna let me hear the end of this one…" Kine groaned, feeling practically dehydrated.

Beeps and boops resounded out of Magolor's modified 3DS. "This is it," he stated. "This is the source. There are four faint life readings here, too." (Kirby knew who they were: _Francisca, Flamberge, Zan Partizanne, and… Hyness.)_ "Through here, we'll be in Another Dimension—again, for some of us." He put the 3DS away. "Like I said before, it's gonna get dangerous from here on out. Is everybody ready?"

A series of resolute nods met his gaze. No more words needed to be said. The answer was clear. "Then it's settled."

Kirby looked back at the Warp Hole, same as everyone else. _I don't really know what to expect here. I don't know how much Another Dimension has changed since I saw it last. Heck, I'm still having a little trouble coming to grips with how much_ _ **I've**_ _changed._

 _But I'm not about to let that stop me from charging on forward. I couldn't call myself the hero of Dream Land if I did._

 _So… here we go._

Without further adieu, the Sword-wielding Star Warrior (as some would call him) waltzed up to the Warp Hole and hopped on in, the portal practically expanding to cover his entire body. The fifteen other faces behind him, all brandishing their trademark weapons, soon followed suit—and it was there where this climatic journey began.

This was it.

From here on out, there could be no more hesitation…

…for the fate of the universe rested in the hands of these Heroes in Another Dimension.

* * *

 **Another Dimension  
Dimension I**

Another Dimension, as the four core members of the Star Allies remembered it, consisted primarily of a transcendent cosmic sky, housing more than its fair share of vortexes and odd spatial lines, with a fiery blue ground and yellow-bordered walls. It was an odd place, but that wasn't anything too surprising for the heroes of the Gamble Galaxy.

However… the same couldn't quite be said now.

"…whoa," Dedede breathed. "This is—this is new."

The whole place had practically transformed: a greater variety of light blues and dark blues lit up the skyline, the spatial lines from before now much more numerous and fitting greatly with the expanded color scheme – and even the weird Void Termina-esque spheres and violet Code Cube-esque objects floating around in the air couldn't detract from its beauty.

On ground level, bright, glowing, yellow blocks filled the views of each of the Star Allies; they were almost too bright to even squint at. The aforementioned yellow outer rims covered up the cosmic nebula within the blocks, a transcendent splendor the likes of which none of them had ever witnessed before. A host of background elements—butterfly weavings, smaller floating blocks, and flora and fauna-like structures—helped to make the place feel far more alive somehow, too.

"It's pretty," Taranza admitted, albeit apprehensively, "but it's also kind of… unsettling? I—I don't know how to put it, r-really…"

"That's fine," Kirby said, "because I don't know how to either."

Despite the gorgeousness of Another Dimension's revamped appearance, a very noticeable, underlying sense of impending destruction flowed through the air with every second that passed – something that only served to highlight just how high the stakes were this time. Marx, in particular, looked like he wanted nothing more than to vomit out his stomach's contents again, but managed to refrain from it. "Th-This place…" he gagged. "It… It feels a lot like… the True Arena…" He scrunched up his face, doing his best not to let bile reach up his throat. "…I don't like it."

"I don't think anybody does, mate," Rick said. He sniffed the air. "It smells a little bit like Dark Matter too. That's not right, huh?"

"No kidding!" Ribbon spoke up.

(In the background, Susie clenched her fists and tried to limit the amount of quavering occurring over her body. It wasn't quite working.

If she was paying closer attention, she might have noticed Meta Knight staring at her with something close to subdued concern at her odd reaction.)

As everyone else laid out their comments about the scenery, Daroach's heightened thief senses caught a glimpse of something just over the horizon. He walked over to Kirby and tapped him. "Kirby," he said. The puffball turned to him, and his gaze followed the direction of the mouse's outstretched finger. "Look over there."

The route before them could best be described as a series of oversized stairs with plenty of gaps, fit better for a behemoth than a 'round pink thing', as many a villain initially would describe Kirby. But emanating from the top seemed to be an object – and faint though it may be, Kirby could make out a glimpse of something… pink.

Obviously, it was important.

And that meant he'd better see what it was.

"Good eye," he complimented his friend. Raising his voice, he called, "Guys! Let's get a move on! We're wasting daylight right now; we've got a galaxy to save!" The Super Tuff Pink Puff ran forward, his sword still blazing in his hand – and the rest of the Star Allies, after shaking themselves out of their awe, proceeded to run after him.

He hopped on one of the elevated platforms, and it began rising slowly into the air. Its rate of elevation was sluggish enough that all sixteen of them – barring a few initial yelps – could jump onto it and up to the next solid piece of ground in no time at all. The next several steps were similar, and the Star Allies got into a comfortable rhythm of sorts, doing this rather basic platforming exercise. (Hey, it serves as good practice!)

At the top of the impromptu staircase was a surprise: a single, lone **Friend Heart** , floating just a couple of feet off the ground. The heart itself was something the Dream Friends had seen several times before, when Kirby used it to either befriend an enemy, or resummon a familiar Helper. And seeing it here, alone and held up by nothing at all (as most collectibles were prone to doing), where normally it would have to be materialized and thrown through Kirby's own power, was… odd, to say the least.

Dark Meta Knight narrowed his eyes. "Kirby. Isn't that article something that belongs to you?" he asked.

Kirby nodded. He'd know the look of it anywhere at this point.

Magolor blinked. "…'belongs to you'?" he repeated out loud, a gloved hand coming to his chin in befuddlement. _**That's**_ _new._ "What's _that_ mean? Guys?"

Taranza and Susie were similarly confused. "Yes, please clarify," the CEO directed. "I believe this is knowledge we most definitely need to know, whatever it is."

"O-Oh!" Bandana Dee ran up to the trio of recent additions, a look of realization coming upon his cute face. "Th-That's right! You guys weren't around for our adventure in March! H-Hey! Adeleine! Ribbon!" he called for his two friends. "I think w-we're gonna need an i-illustrated explanation for these guys!"

The artistic duo went on up, and with a smile on their faces—plus a jolly "We can do that!" from Adeleine—summoned their large canvas and prepared to paint to Bandana Dee's words. (She had gotten real good at anticipating statements and applying the appropriate art to match. When you can make your drawings literally come to life, it's a talent that's nice to have – and NOVA knows Angie appreciated it as well.) "So," the faithful assistant began, "it all began when all these heart pieces were raining down from the sky! You know, 'cause of the Jambandra guys." Magolor, Taranza, and Susie watched with interest as the accompanying art piece showcased a purple meteor shower descending across all of Pop Star. Susie grumbled something about 'copycats' underneath her breath.

 _Huh. That doesn't look half-bad, actually. I wonder if she'd be up for painting the Lor…_

"They touched a lot of people – like Great King, sadly – and they did a lot of bad things, too. But there was one that was actually good!" A pink streak suddenly showed up in the sea of purple, visible enough to captivate the trio's eyes. "And just like a miracle, it touched Kirby!" Now, the painting was of the pink heart sinking into Kirby's body, sprinkling some sort of magical dust over him.

Adeleine continued to sketch, now drawing a scene of Kirby throwing another of those pink hearts at a Poppy Bros. Jr. Despite the dire situation at hand, she seemed content with the artistry she was working on. "Now Kirby can throw hearts—Friend Hearts, we call them—and make friends with our enemies!" The Poppy Bro in the picture, once ready to throw a lit bomb, now looked far more welcoming to the idea of friendship. _What a… remarkable transformation,_ Magolor thought.

"It's helped us a lot over the past few months, and we've made many friends thanks to it!" Bandana Dee added. A swath of Helpers was depicted now, from Waddle Doo to Bonkers to Vividra… It was a virtual army, the cavalcade shown. "We wouldn't be here without all these Helpers by our side!"

Susie, by this point, had gotten out a notepad and was diligently writing down the information for 'later use'. Taranza, meanwhile, simply raised one of his hands. "U-Umm… Can… Can I ask a question?" he desired to know.

"O-Of course!" Bandana Dee made a happy expression. "Ask away!"

"W-Well…" Taranza scratched the back of his head. "H-How did that h-heart just so happen to f-fall onto Kirby? That—That seems like a pretty big coincidence, to me…"

"That _is_ rather convenient," Magolor agreed. _It's not like me, when I transported the Lor to Pop Star that one time._

"Hmm… A-Actually…" The assistant rubbed the back of his head as he answered, "I… don't know! I don't think Kirby does, either! It's just a thing that… happened."

"How unscientific," Susie remarked, looking up from her notepad. "In this universe, there's no such things as coincidences – especially not ones like that. There's always a reason for everything that happens, even if it doesn't look like it at first. The most likely candidate for the events you listed is that the pink heart specifically targeted Pinky—" _(Say, why does she always call him 'Pinky'? Is that just a term of endearment?)_ "—to _give_ him those powers. The reasons behind such an action, though, currently elude me."

Magolor closed my eyes and mused. "…knowing how Pop Star attracts the weirdest things," _least of which being stumbling onto an alternate Dream Land,_ "something like that wouldn't be too out of the ordinary," he affirmed. "Just as fate had us all be here, at this exact moment in time, it might be that fate had a hand in letting Kirby have these Friend Hearts at his disposal."

"I dunno, that seems kinda farfetched to me," Taranza confided.

"Like it or not, it's the most likely possibility," Susie replied.

Bandana Dee looked wowed. "W-Whoa…! I never thought about it that way…!"

Adeleine, taking a break from painting duty, was similarly in wonderment. "You know, that can kind of apply to basically everything that happens around Kirby," she mused. "That's… That's pretty interesting. Probably would make for a neat piece of art, too…"

"Well, I'm not complaining about it!" Ribbon said brightly. "I mean, if it wasn't for me crash landing on Pop Star, Kirby and I would have never met! Coincidence or not, that's something I'm always happy to have had happen!"

Taranza smiled ruefully. All the talk about fate and friendships really got his mind thinking. _This… This kind of reminds me of… being with_ _ **her**_ _again._

… _even after everything, I wish she was still here with me._

 _If only…_

Then Magolor noticed something. "Hey, guys," he said. "I think we should wrap up this learning session. Everyone else seems to be doing something else right now."

A collective "Huh?" echoed from the rest of the crowd, and they looked on forward to see the other Star Allies having moved up to some sort of door – and were now trying to get Gooey to stop licking it.

"Mmm… This tastes like doors," Gooey was drooling.

"G-Gooey!" Kirby shouted. "Th-That's not food! C-C'mon, now!"

"M-Mate, are—are you serious now?" Rick seemed flabbergasted.

"Sheesh, are you really that hungry?" Marx asked with a raised eyebrow. "Can you just ask Adeleine for a snack or something?"

Dedede facepalmed. (Yeah, what else could he do here?)

It was a rather humorous event to watch, made only funnier by the crew's reactions and attempts to pull the blob of Dark Matter away to very little avail. But they couldn't stare at forever – after all, they had plenty of business to take care of.

"H-Hey, what's going on!?" Adeleine's canvas poofed away in a cloud of smoke, and both her and Ribbon ran (or in the fairy's case, flew) over to their other friends' sides, with Bandana Dee following close behind. "W-Wait for us!"

The trio of new Star Allies watched the scene from afar with interest.

"You know," Magolor said with a furrowed brow and an amused smile, "if this is the type of thing we're gonna be seeing, I get the feeling this journey's really gonna be something else."

"At the very least, the data I'll collect from this will very much assist in the future endeavors of the Haltmann Works Company," Susie stated clinically – though not without a shadow of a smirk on her face. "Sticking around, then, won't be serve as a problem."

"…weird reasoning," Taranza noted, "but—I get it. I don't think I'd want to be anywhere else right now but here. So…" A longing gaze passed through his eyes. "…here's hoping things go well."

* * *

 **[Bandana Dee]**

 **Dimension I – First Hero Trial**

Th-This place… it's—it's pretty crazy, g-guys!

L-Like… Another Dimension before was a bit of an afterthought, just a place where we beat Magolor twice over. I had kind of forgotten about it, because we've been to even _more_ crazy places and done a whole lotta things since – b-but I guess it really didn't like being relegated to a minor status like that, h-huh?

It's so much more colorful now! So much more blinding, so much more all-over-the-place… and so much more insane! Our adventure back in March has nothing on this, really! And plus, our group is even bigger now – sixteen people at once is nothing to scoff at!

Unfortunately, it kind of seems like this place doesn't like how big we are – because literally everything here hits like a tank. Even those of my kind (How are they even here, anyway? Are they natives of this place?) attack us harder than they normally do. I normally won't admit this, but us Waddle Dees aren't really that great at fighting without a weapon – an old fight with Kirby proved that well to me – so this is… a bit of a surprise.

Luckily, since we're such a huge crew, it wasn't that big of a problem! Between my spear, Great King's hammer, Marx's… balls, Susie's big mech, and everything else, we could take care of anything that comes our way! Kirby was in his element, too, using his Fighter ability to kick and throw all our enemies away.

…oh, yeah – for some reason, that door we came up across gave him Fighter first before it let us through. I have no idea why.

It might have something to do with the blocks placed in front of those Friend Hearts (why are there so many here?), so… yay, convenience?

I guess I'll take it! Anything that helps us and Great King out is good in my book!

I'm not sure what all these Friend Hearts are for, but maybe they'll help us defeat the Jambandra Cult. Or maybe even befriend them! They may be our enemies, but there's nothing really stopping us from becoming actual friends! (Aside from the 'religious cult of a Dark Lord' thing, but… we can change that, maybe!) Kirby likes befriending people, be them heroes _or_ villains, so he could definitely make it work somehow! That's just the way he is!

H-Honestly, though… I'm still a little frightened. I—I mean, it's just that… this kind of threat is new to us. It's so much more serious than our usual, and it's out of place with our usual 'adventure—extra quest—True Arena' system. And I do worry about us turning out alright, since the difficulty has been ratcheted way up this time around.

B-But… something tells me it'll be fine. And I trust that something!

We've survived a lot of things already; this shouldn't be anything new to us!

…I hope.

…you know, this whole escapade of ours has gotten me thinking a little, what with sixteen of us here and all. We've come a long way, haven't we? We're so much more now than just a ragtag team of four or five running about the galaxy collecting a whole bunch of shiny things – Crystal Shards, Energy Spheres, you name it! (I remember being a little sore picking up the latter… How the heck did they even _get_ in some of those hiding places?)

And we've all come here together now, thanks to Kirby. Making friends, defeating enemies, even helping some of them get back on their feet… He's done so much in the twenty-six years he's been on Pop Star – and I've been there for a pretty big chunk of it. I remember the day our friendship started: I was minding my own business when I found a pretty crystal, and then I got possessed by Dark Matter.

(It saddens me to say this, but that's a thing a lot of people in Dream Land have experience with. Thank NOVA Dark Matter's gone now!)

I don't really remember anything that happened _while_ I was possessed – but Kirby managed to beat it out of me, and from there, we became fast friends! Heh heh… thinking about then always cracks a bit of a smile from me. How can I not, when it was the day I met one of my two best friends in the whole galaxy?

I've been there for a good number of Kirby's journeys: when we looked for the pieces of the Lor Starcutter; when Great King got kidnapped by Taranza; when the whole planet was in disarray from the Haltmann Works Company… and there's plenty in-between that's kinda more obscure, like the Rainbow Curse incident! (Elline and Claycia were pretty nice; we should go see them again sometime…)

My point is, I've seen Kirby's courage and good nature first-hand. I've seen his propensity to make friends out of anything and anyone he comes across, no matter who they are or what they've tried to do. He'll give off a great big smile, stick his hand out, and help you up even if he just thrashed your butt. (What can I say, he's easily forgiving like that!)

We've made a lot of good friends that way – even if they don't seem like they'd be ones. Marx and Dark Meta Knight were rather… questionable in that regard, at first – I know Great King certainly wasn't too excited about them – but now, they're two of our best allies. S-Seriously! Those beach balls and mirrors have really helped us out in a pickle!

…I know that doesn't exactly sound helpful, b-but—trust me on this!

And I know I may not be the bravest of Waddle Dees, or the strongest, or the… anything-est, but that doesn't mean I won't try my best to help my friends whenever they need it! Kirby's helped _me_ out a lot over the years – when I was first learning how to use a spear, after Kirby and Great King finally settled their rivalry (you should've seen the fight, it was literally electrifying!), the two of them were happy to teach me!

For a guy who supposedly hadn't used Spear in a while, Kirby certainly knew how to use it! When he said he was a bit of a technician, he wasn't joking…

Either way, I wouldn't be here right now if I hadn't met Kirby. I might've never gotten as close as I am to Great King, either! So that's why, even though I'm frightened over all the horrors I _know_ we'll come across, I'll face this threat by their sides with a hand by my trusty spear!

…h-heh heh, I've—I've been rambling on a bit too long, h-haven't I? You probably just want to see what the heck we're doing right now! W-Well…

"And that makes four Friend Hearts," Kirby stated, juggling around the heart-shaped artifacts with his hands as the sixteen of us walked forward. "Only ninety-six more to go. Or a hundred-sixteen. One of those two numbers."

"I'm already getting pains just thinking about how many are left…" Great King groaned, a hand immediately going to his forehead. "How can you do this whole collectible thing all the time and not get sick and tired of it?"

"'Ey, at some point, it just becomes routine, mate," Rick offered, shrugging his shoulders. "Rainbow Drops, Heart Stars, those weird Puzzle Pieces… it all kinda blends in after a while."

"At least these ones are easier to find," Kine said. "You wouldn't believe the type of things we had to do to get those other two…"

A brief shudder went through Kirby and the Animal Buddies. I wonder what kind of tasks they're talking about. Whenever I ask some of them of that time, they just groan and mutter something about 'Metroids' and 'dates' and it doesn't really make much sense?

It—It seems like an in-joke I'm not getting…

"…moving on," Great King continued, "how's everybody else doing?" He turned to the rest of our squad. Everyone seemed a little worn out, though otherwise perfectly fine – though I bet they wish all those Poppy Bros. Jr. didn't keep tossing bombs at us (our own Poppy had to keep apologizing after Kirby resummoned him) – and Marx, meanwhile, was tilting his head around and overdramatically whining out, _"We're all half-dead! There is no hope! There is no hope! Oh, woe be us—!"_

…yes, he's like this all the time.

No, none of us have ever managed to get him to stop.

And when the Ultimates trickled in to Pop Star, it got even worse. Kokichi and Marx are a match made in the depths of the True Arena, I—I swear! How does Adeleine and Dark Meta Knight handle it!?

Good thing I can share my pain with Shuichi…

"Ignoring him," Dark Meta Knight grouched, "we are all… perfectly well, for what has transpired." His sword, a mirror copy of Meta Knight's Galaxia, was sparkling with electricity, and he looked for all the world like the t-terrifying edgelord he really liked to be seen as (I dunno why; I think he's fine as he is). "These pitiful creatures are no match for my sharp blade."

"A-Again, I'm—I'm sorry about my kind!" Poppy apologized, bowing his head repeatedly. I can't imagine what he's feeling right now… "It's—It's just the way we are, r-really! P-Please don't take it as a bad thing…!"

"It's alright!" Ribbon assured him. "You didn't do anything wrong! Everyone else was just… meanies! Th-That's right, meanies!" Adeleine giggled a bit at Ribbon's vocabulary.

I nodded furiously in agreement. "You can't hold yourself responsible for what they do! You're one of our friends! And that counts for a lot!"

Gooey drooled. "What they said," he helpfully added. Hey, everything counts!

Poppy beamed – I, I think there were even a few tears in his eyes. "A-Awwww…" he smiled. "Th-Thanks, you guys! That… That really means a lot to me."

And meanwhile, Taranza was standing off to the side, looking extremely out of his depth. He's… He's really not used to this, huh? W-Well, then we should be doing our best to make him feel right at home! As he started to shuffle away, I called out to him, "H-Hey, Taranza!", and he jolted in surprise.

"H-Huh?" His eyes shifted about wildly before they fell on me in realization. "O-Oh—B-Bandana Dee!" He coughed, looking away in… embarrassment, I think? "You… You called? I, I don't think you really _need_ me right now, but if—if you really want me—"

"Do you want to join us?" I asked him out of the blue.

"J-Join you?" He started trembling nervously. That… That doesn't look healthy for him; even _I_ don't do so as much. "I… You… You don't… have to invite me… I'm—I'm just fine by myself. R-Really!"

…I don't believe him.

Neither does Ribbon.

"Hey, don't be like that!" The fairy from Ripple Star fluttered over to the spider's side and started pushing him toward our side. "You're just as welcome here as Poppy is!" The Poppy Bros. Jr. waved at the mention of his name. "Now c'mon—don't be shy! Come join us!"

"H-Hey! D-Don't be so pushy…!" The poor regent seemed like he didn't know what to do with Ribbon's more energetic behavior – but that's what we're here for, right?

"It's okay!" I said brightly. "I know we may seem like a lot," to the point where even I can have trouble sometimes, "but we don't bite!"

Adeleine smiled. "Yeah—we're just a colorful bunch, that's all! All we do is paint a pretty picture every now and then."

"And eat," Gooey added.

Poppy nodded vigorously. "And ignite a few bombs here and there, too! That's always fun!"

…that's not what I would say, but—it works, I guess?

"…I dunno… I don't think I… really fit in here. I mean…" He glanced at me guiltily. "I… _did_ kind of kidnap your king and all… You really shouldn't be wanting me here."

"It's alright!" I assured him. "He forgave you and all!" Great King's almost like Kirby in that regard – almost, because even Great King hesitates with the real-deal big bad guys like Marx. And Dark Meta Knight. "And if he can forgive you, then—then I can forgive you, too! Besides… You're not a bad person. I can see that in you."

It's… It's a real shame, what happened with him and Queen Sectonia and all. They used to be best friends, Kirby and Great King tells me. I don't think we should replace her, necessarily, but… maybe we can make things a little better for him.

That's what our Super Tuff Pink Puff would do, after all!

"Ooh! Ooh!" Poppy looked like he had an idea in mind. "Hey, Adeleine! How 'bout you paint him a picture!" His eyes glistened brightly as he relayed his friendship-deepening idea to us. "You're really, _really_ good at painting—so a pretty painting should help him relax a little! That's a good idea, right?"

Hmm… Taranza seemed to like Adeleine's paintings from earlier, when I was explaining the Star Allies debacle to him and the others… It could definitely work! "I can definitely give away a few of my drawings," the painter said. "Alright!" She went up to our apprehensive ally and asked, "So! Anything you want me to draw in particular?"

"Don't worry—Addie can draw anything!" Ribbon praised her best friend. "If it can be drawn, she can do it!"

The arachnid looked considering now. "Well…" he started. "There is one thing—person—I'd liked to see again… even if it's only a drawing of her…"

He scrounged around his pockets – or hammerspace, I dunno – and then he pulled out a delicately well-kept photo, perfectly clean and intact. He gave it to Adeleine, who took it in her hand. Poppy, Ribbon, and I peeked at the photo ourselves: it depicted Taranza in the Royal Road's throne room, standing right next to…

…oh.

 _Oh._

Adeleine and Ribbon's eyes widened. "H-Hey… The girl in this photo…" The artist looked up. "Is that…"

Taranza nodded solemnly. "Can… Can you do it? …please?"

A solemn, heartfelt smile came onto her face. "…yeah. If you really want it—it'll be my pleasure."

…he must really still miss her, huh?

I can't imagine what life would be like if I lost Great King myself.

He looks like he really needs a hug. So…

I walked up to him and gave him a great big hug. He was startled by it at first, but… eventually, he accepted it, his six hands cuddling around my frame as well. Poppy joined in after a moment, and then Adeleine and Ribbon hopped in. Gooey's tongue wrapped around our increasingly larger pile too, which prompted the spider to ask, "H-Hey… Wh-Why are… you all hugging me like this?"

"You seemed like you need it," I chimed in. "And what kind of friend would we be if we didn't cheer you up when you're down?"

"Yeah!" Adeleine said. "We're friends!"

"And fellow kingdom assistants, woo!" Ribbon cheered.

Gooey couldn't exactly say anything, but he made sounds of agreement from his throat.

"We can blow up all the bombs together!" Poppy exclaimed.

Taranza didn't reply, but I caught hints of a smile coming onto his face. I think… I think we're having a good effect on him.

And that's what's important in the end. Making a friend as happy as he can be. That's the type of person I like to be – and that's the way I'm going to stay, even as we traverse through this crazy dimension.

We've still got a long way to go, I know that… but so long as our bonds remain strong, I know we can do this.

I know we can.

* * *

 **[N/A]**

The Hero Door before the sixteen Star Allies was much like the one that give Kirby the Fighter ability from before – except this one had Bandana Dee's icon on its heart-shaped sculpture instead of the one for Fighter. And the door itself was preempted by a portrait of the familiar assistant, too.

If that wasn't strange, then Kirby didn't know what was.

"Th-This door…" Bandana Dee breathed… "It's… It's got _my face_ on it. But—but _why?"_

"Well, that's mighty convenient!" Coo cawed. "Suspiciously so… Seems like a game-y thing to me!"

"I think this place has been stalking you," Marx snarked in his trademark fashion. "Actually, it might be stalking Kirby, too, judging by the last door we came across…"

"This dimension gets stranger every time I look at it," Magolor remarked, coming closer to the door and examining it. "Could something in here have anticipated our arrival? Or is this residue from you guys' past visit to Another Dimension?" He hummed again, his mind whirring with possible answers. "So many possibilities, yet not enough information…"

"Residue from past visits?" Susie muttered. "By that logic, that means…" She stopped, and then grimaced. "Oh, _great._ This NOVA-damned place'll _recognize_ me. Just what I wanted."

"Well, that's a horror I wouldn't wish on anyone, not even you," Meta Knight said, standing behind the CEO – not to guard her, but to watch her. "The True Arena always dragging us in is more than I ever wanted on that front. Though that _does_ use technology from _your_ company…"

"…in my defense, my father donated them before he died. It had nothing to do with me." A frown. "I couldn't even get it removed when I became CEO…"

"…my condolences, then."

Daroach, meanwhile, being the calm intellectual that he was, made his observations clear. "Whatever reason this door specifically is here doesn't matter. What does matter is what we can glean from its presence before us. Likely, its appearance indicates that our good friend Bandana Dee"—He gestured to the said 'good friend' standing nearby, who jumped—"will be of much help during this sector of this dimension. It is best, then, if he temporarily takes our lead for this area."

"W-W-Wait, hold up! M-M-M- _Me?"_ Bandana Dee pointed toward himself. "L-L- _Lead?_ I—I dunno if I c-can do th-that, s-slow down!"

"Why not?" King Dedede asked, another of his trademark grins stretching his mouth. "I think you can do it just fine, Dee."

"R-Really?"

"Mate," Rick began, "you've been a good friend in the time I've known you. I'm sure this is something you'll be able to handle."

"Hey, if I can lead, everyone else here can too," Kirby said. "So that means you'll be a good choice for the job. Trust me on that!"

"I suppose it would be relatively non-offensive if someone like you took the reins," Dark Meta Knight conceded. "Just know that I will show no mercy should you accidentally lead us into a bottomless pit."

"You eluded the reach of my company far, far longer than most on Planet Pop Star did," Susie similarly acknowledged. "On those terms, it would be… interesting to record how well you do in a position of leadership."

"Eh, ignore them," Magolor shrugged. "You know what they mean. You were a big help with repairing the Lor Starcutter so long ago. So I'll put my full confidence in you!"

This splattering of approval from all of his friends made Bandana Dee blush in embarrassment. "You—you guys…" He rubbed the back of his head. "I'll—I'll do my best to leave up to your expectations, then!"

Really, how could he not? This was his friends they were talking about – if they believed he could do it… then by golly, he'd do his best to do it!

Anything counted here in this twisted dimension, right?

 _Everyone's counting on me now. I won't fail them here!_

And so the spear-wielding friend totted on up to the door – which, despite its small appearance, could actually fit all the Star Allies through its frame – put a hand on the doorknob, and opened it up. Beams of light shone out from the creases in the now-open gateway, but that didn't do much to deter anyone.

Bandana Dee looked back to the crowd behind him, and semi-confidently proclaimed, "H-Here we go, everybody!"

The little Dee ran through the door – and the rest of the Star Allies followed him dutifully.

* * *

Elsewhere, in Another Dimension…

" _Wh-Where are we?" Francisca asked, her beady eyes shooting all around their extremely unfamiliar surroundings. The location they were in looked nothing like the home they had known for so long – or indeed, anything that even remotely belonged in the Gamble Galaxy. "The magic here, it—it—it feels so… so_ _ **dangerous!**_ _"_

 _Something was intensely wrong about the place. The Jambandra Base may have been… 'in tune' with the occult, given the nature of their leader's goals, but… the atmosphere was of an unusual nature, even by their standards. There was something swirling and spiraling in the air – something twisted – and a sense of danger permeated through their skin as well. Put simply – Francisca didn't like it._

" _You've got that right, Franny," Flamberge agreed, her normally fiery demeanor temporarily extinguished by the transcendent nature of Another Dimension. "This… This ain't anything good." She turned to her elder sister and pleaded, "Zan, let's—let's just leave. I don't wanna be here any longer than we have to be. L-Lord Hyness can handle himself. He—He does so all the time, he'll be fine!"_

 _Zan Partizanne drew her gaze away. "…I can't do that," she quietly admitted, summoning her partisan into her hand. "Lord Hyness—more than ever now, he needs us. I hate to say it, but…" A glance at the swirling chaos around them. "…he may be out of his depth."_

 _Flamberge scoffed. "That's an understatement. He literally got sucked into a portal! And you, being the ever-loyal disciple that you are, just—charged in after him!" Her harsh tone settled down as a concerned expression appeared on her face. "…you can't just charge after him all the time, you know. What if you get into a danger that you can't get out of? What if… we can't be there to you out?"_

 _Light tears built up at the edges of the Blazing General's eyes. Zan choked, though she hid it well._ That _was a bit of a low blow—though she understood where it came from. After all, she still remembered the days when the three of them were separated, far from each other, with herself growing increasingly desperate to find them, until it lead up to—!_

… _no._ _ **No.**_ _She didn't have to remember those days anymore._

 _Lord Hyness had given her everything back, gave her a life anew, become the savior she had desired from her deepest dreams – and now,_ now, _when he needed her the most, this… this_ thing _was going to just… take him away?_

Fat chance of **that** happening!

 _BA-DUMP!_

 _Something stirred from within her. Something… something_ _ **strong**_ _. What was it?_

 _BA-DUMP!_

… _it—it could only be her determination._

 _Yes, that was it. Her determination to rescue her beloved Lord and bring him back to his home, where he belonged, with her sisters and their subordinates and everyone else._

 _That was the goal she had christened for herself._

 _And that was the goal she would accomplish, here and now._

 _ **BA-DUMP!**_

 _(Lightning crackled around her weapon—and if one looked closely… the normally yellow sparkles seemed to glisten purple, if only for a brief moment. But—but that couldn't be anything important. Surely, it couldn't be.)_

 _Francisca adopted the same worried face that Flamberge was holding. "Z-Zan? Are you…" Her eyes darted quickly to her sister's preferred weapon before landing back on its wielder. "…are you okay?"_

"… _I'm just fine," she affirmed – though, based on the look the Frozen and Blazing Generals gave each other, she failed to soothe their doubts. Well, that didn't matter. "Now…" She turned her attention to the ethereal lands before them. "We have a mission to complete. Lord Hyness awaits. Let us find him!"_

 _And then, the Lightning General zipped off, not even bothering to wait for her sisters._

"… _Berge…" Francisca bit her lip. "…do you think something's wrong with Zan? She's—she's not usually so… so… so forceful." Despite her rather serious nature, the second-in-command of the Jambandra Cult knew when to lay things back a bit – even in a situation as serious as this. "And—and that lightning…"_

 _Flamberge looked away._ What… What **was** that? _she asked herself, her mind frantically racing to come up with an answer. She shook her head. "M-Maybe… Maybe it was just… a trick of the light," she tried unsuccessfully to convince herself. "Y-Yeah. And—and she's just… a bit stressed. Th-That's all. Yeah. N-Now!" She whipped out her trusty blade abruptly, startling her twin sister. "We should get going after her! We… We c-can't just leave her alone like that now, r-right!?"_

"… _I suppose you are right…" Taking out her labrys herself, Francisca could only gaze sadly at the place where her elder sister had been standing just a few moments before. This was going to be the death of them, she knew – but this was her sister, and she couldn't stray away from her._

 _Not again._

 _Not ever again._

"… _well… let's go."_

* * *

 **And so begins** _ **Heroes in Another Dimension.**_ **It's gonna be a wild ride, folks.**

 **Sorry this update didn't come sooner.** _ **Super Smash Bros. Ultimate**_ **finally came out, and… well, let's just say that game really lives up to the hype. It's taken me a lot to wrench myself away from that game and its single-player campaign, lemme tell you that.**

 **I didn't plan on giving this fic too many chapters. It would've had the side-effect of bloating my word count, sure, but that's something I could've dealt with. But my way of making things way longer than they have to be has reared back into view.**

 **I wanted this chapter to just be the whole first dimension – but then the pre-game business went on too long again. It took me 6k words before I even got to the point where the mode actually begins. (Why am I even surprised at this point?) Hopefully, I'll manage to condense this fic into seven chapters total – but no guarantees about that.**

 **And yes, yes—I know I said that this fic would be third-person only, but I thought it might be a little nice to add some first-person introspections for every Dream Friend. (Thanks to** OwlsCantRead **for the suggestion!) I end up writing their perspectives a lot in my other fics anyway, and HAL** _ **did**_ **advertise being able to 'play as every Dream Friend', so what's the harm? Don't worry though, most of the rest of the fic will be in third-person – writing action scenes gets more difficult the more people you add, and even harder when you're writing from only one character's eyes.**

 **I'll also be showcasing a few flashback and present-day sequences for the Three Mage-Sisters; I, for one, don't feel like passing up the chance to make them more integral to** _ **Heroes'**_ **plot, and really flesh out their backstories and motivations a little. Soul Melter EX already gave us a big chunk of that, so why not expand on it, eh? I mean, it's rather horrifying (like, what is** _ **up**_ **with** _ **Kirby**_ **lore nowadays?), and I can write a bit of that convincingly enough, I think.**

… **as a side note, yes—Dedede** _ **is**_ **canonically bald. There's no hair modeled beneath his hat. Really. Go look it up. I'm not kidding.**

 **Don't expect to see a lot of the Helpers in this fic, by the way. I inherently find writing the Dream Friends far more interesting, since they have far more history behind them – and with Kirby. But, this being** _ **Star Allies,**_ **they'll crop up here and there. They** _ **are**_ **still a part of the Star Allies, after all.**

 **Well, that's all for now – tune in next time for the second part of Dimension I! See you there!**


	3. Parallel Paradigms

**Star Allies, Unite!**

 _ **Chapter 3  
**_ _Parallel Paradigms_

(Uploaded on February 21, 2019)

* * *

 **Summary:** Deep into the depths of Another Dimension, the Star Allies are finding that this romp across time and space isn't the same type of venture they're used to. With a whole new slew of puzzles, punishments, and parallel bosses to survive, it's gonna be a long while before they get to closing this rift for good.

(And through the chaos, Dream Friends will lead, and Dream Friends will reflect; for at the crossroads of a climax, there was much to do and explore within yourself…)

 **Notes:** This chapter covers the second part of _Heroes'_ first level, **Dimension I**. There are also increased references to situations post- _Harmony Never Really Dies,_ though not extensively so.

* * *

 _Waves of heat soared over her entire body, absolutely smothering her in a blanket far too warm for her tastes. Flickers of red fell over the fiery wasteland, accompanied by enormous clouds of smoke making it far too difficult to see. And not helping was all the coughing she was doing, as a result of all of that smog entering her lungs. Sizzlai Moon was not a place you wanted to be in when it was raining hailfire all over the place – but she didn't exactly have a choice in that regard._

 _But that wasn't going to stop her. Oh no, it wasn't. She'd push on through this hellscape, even the heat seemed overbearing—because there were people she still had to find, people who_ needed _her (and who she needed in turn), and it'd be a cold day in—well, here—before she'd let her efforts be wasted now!_

" _J-Just because it's hot… doesn't mean… I—I c-can't get through this…!" she muttered, gritting her teeth. "F-Franny… Z-Zan… Wherever you are, I_ will _find you…!"_

 _Off the top of her head, the little girl couldn't remember for the life of her how exactly she got on this… crazy, volcanic planet-moon place. One moment, she was with her two sisters and her father, and the next… she had woken up here, bereft of any belongings beyond the clothes on her back – and the feeling that something that should've been there… wasn't._

 _It wasn't hard to tell what it was._

 _But—that was only a momentary inconvenience; she was sure of that! Her sisters were somewhere on this NOVA-forsaken moon, and by golly, she'd find them—and then, everything would be okay again! That was a fact! And there was nothing this hot mess of a place could do about_ that!

You—You hear me on that, lava land!? _she internally hissed._ B-Bring it on…!

 _Unfortunately for her, though, the whole locale was trying its best to prove her wrong every step of the way. And doubly unfortunately for her… it was succeeding._

' _She's always been a stubborn one,' her elder sister once noted that trait with pride – but where once her tenacity was her shining quality… here, it would prove to be a detriment in the long run._

 _(There wasn't a whole lot one could do on against a volcanic satellite, after all.)_

 _She pushed on and on, determined to keep looking on, even as the soot continued to gather in her face and her breath became ever more shortened. She didn't have anything to lose at this point beyond her remaining hopes and dreams, and to her credit, she would've lasted a fair bit longer even with her increasingly worse condition… that is, if the volcanoes around her hadn't erupted violently with plumes of lava._

 _The girl, horrified, stared into the sky as the molten rocks and sparks started descending to the ground, even bigger clouds of black smoke accompanying their presence. Shaking her head, she turned around and took off in the opposite direction away from the chaos._ I can't let this defeat me now… _! she thought—but sadly, she was wrong today._

 _The meteors came down fast, and before she knew it, they had slammed into the ground all around her—and a practical inferno had engulfed her very surroundings, her heat problems magnified a thousandfold by the firestorm that had come for her._

" _No…_ No…!" _she tried to deny. "This is—This can't be—!?" Her vision was blurring, unwanted tears welling up in the corner of her eyes and accompanied by large coughing fits – but lucky for her, she could still see enough. Her eyes frantically danced about the place, desperately searching for an exit, but much to her distress… there was no foreseeable way out. None at all._

" _G-Grrrr…! I… I… I can't die here…! You think that this'll stop me…!?"_

 _And if that wasn't bad enough, the flames spared no expense in creeping closer to her – and now, even her precious breathing room was being smothered into nothingness. She grit her teeth louder as she dropped down to her knees, finally and utterly defeated in every stretch of the imagination, though she refused to acknowledge it had happened. With the hot gravel floor burning against her skin, the fire almost touching her form, and her consciousness fading ever more, she raised her head to the sky – and let out one last fiery scream._

" _ **AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_

" _G-Goppoko! There she is! Q-Quickly!"_

 _Just before she was consumed whole, however… a blizzard tidal wave—completely out-of-place in the volcanic wasteland that was Sizzlai Moon—came and extinguished the immediate danger. But perhaps, it was too late: the girl had dropped to the ground entirely, no longer able to coherently register the events unfolding around her._

H-Huh…? _her frayed mind thought._ Wh-What's…?

" _J-Janno…!" that unfamiliar voice exclaimed again. "She—She is very weak! If we had been any few seconds slower…!"_

" _B-B-_ _ **Berge!"**_ _another voice shouted._ (F-Franny…? _the fallen girl thought._ Is that you…?) _Footsteps resounded out as her sister went up and took her nearly-unconscious sibling in her hands. "No, no—you can't die here! Not after I've finally found you…!"_

 _The girl coughed, a weak laugh exiting her lips as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "F-Franny… I… I actually found you…" she deliriously whispered, one final, shaky smile forming on her face. "I… I didn't lose you forever… H-Ha ha…" Her already minimal strength began to fade. "At—At l-least… I have th-that…"_

" _D-D-Don't talk like this is the end, B-Berge…!" Her head whipped around. "M-Mr. Hyness! C-Can't you do that… warm, magic-y thingy on her!?"_

Warm… magic-y… thingy…?

" _Jes, jes… that could work." Out of nowhere, the mysterious stranger—who Franny was accompanying for some reason; she couldn't discern a reason why as she was currently—began to chant with some… weird language thingy that she couldn't interpret, and sounded kinda hipster-y to her ears. But it seemed to be doing_ something, _as she soon became soaked in a soothing, even_ healing _feeling that seemed almost warm to the touch. Her eyes gradually reopened up as strength returned to her—and for that matter, she even felt something building up within her._

 _Something… intense._

 _Something…_ _ **burning!**_

 _An_ awesome _type of burning!_

" _H-_ _ **HECK YEAH!"**_ _Suddenly, the girl—Flamberge—burst into the air and (as foretold by the "W-WAH!") completely surprised Francisca out of her wits. Landing on her feet, she exclaimed, "This is—This is_ _ **GREAT!**_ _Aw man, I've never felt like_ this _before!" She raised her hands to the sky, fire practically shooting out of her palms. For all that she had been close to death… it was like she had never been in that situation to begin with. (She had always been a little carefree like that.)_

" _B-Berge!" Francisca stumbled about a bit trying to regain her bearings. "D-D-Don't startle me like th-that!" Despite her surprised outlook… there was clear relief echoed throughout her face. Her sister was back—and her sister was as well as could be, given the circumstances._

" _C'mon, Franny!" Flamberge nonchalantly scoffed. "I feel pumped up on ten soda bottles at once! Lemme have this one for a bit, won't ya? Look!" She brought one of her hands up, relishing in how_ comfortable _the fire felt in her palm. "I can make_ fire _now! How cool is that!?"_

 _A quiet and heartfelt laugh came out of the nearby stranger's mouth. Turning to him, Flamberge got a good look at his rather… eccentric appearance_ (What's with his **eyes?** _she thought._ F-Franny didn't get involved with anyone… **bad** … right?), _and his equally as weird getup. "Simply jawaii…" he said_ (What does that word mean?). _"I am jhappy that you are perfectly okay after your harrowing experience."_

" _Say…" Flamberge's eyes narrowed. "…who are you? I've never seen someone like you before… You're not secretly Dad in disguise, are you?"_

" _Berge…" Francisca sighed exasperatedly. "He's not Dad—Dad doesn't have any costumes like that." She briefly looked away, tears threatening to spring from her eyes, before she resumed with "A-Anyway! This is Mr. Hyness! He helped me out in a—uhh, sticky situation! He's a nice guy! He even gave me some cool ice powers!" She demonstrated by casting another cold wind through the area, which admittedly,_ was _rather impressive. "S-Say hi to him, Berge!"_

 _Normally, Flamberge would follow her father's advice and ignore a stranger like this – but if Francisca said he was a good person—and he assisted her for seemingly for no price at all—he was probably… alright. "…hello, Mr. Hyness. I'm_ _ **Flamberge**_ _, and I'm Franny's sister. Nice to meet ya, I guess!"_

 _Hyness closed his eyes in delight, clasping his hands together. "It is nice to meet you too, Ms. Flamberge," he replied. "As you know, I am Hyness—an officiant of the gods above. Your sister and I were on a quest to find you and your other sibling. Since you have been rescued from danger, would you like to join us to find… juh…" He turned to Francisca. "Japologa, Francisca, but I am afraid I have forgotten her name again. What was it?"_

" _It's… Zan Partizanne, Mr. Hyness."_

" _Z-Zan… Zan Par… Hmm… That is quite difficult to say…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well—I am sure I will remember it properly later. So, Ms. Flamberge, are you willing?"_

" _Am I willing? You bet your butt I am!" Flamberge grinned wildly. "You helped me out when I needed it most—and my sister, and I don't think she's wrong! If you can find Zan… then count me in!"_

* * *

 **[Ribbon]**

 **Dimension I – Second Hero Trial**

"To your left, Dee!" I frantically shouted, and he quickly dove out of the way of an incoming ball of Waddle Dees—which was _yikes!_ They're _crazy!—_ before they could stomp him flat. Rushing quickly past the rolling-away ball of uncomfortableness, he ran and presumably broke a nearby box. "Okay!" his voice cried, the chime of another Friend Heart echoing through, "that's another heart collected!" From his current position, he turned around and asked, "H-Hey, j-just to make sure… how's everyone doing?"

"We're all good here, Dee!" Kirby answered, at the same time Marx sarcastically replied, _"We're half-dead, thanks for asking!"_

"Don't be like that, Marx!" Addie chastised the jester, paintbrush still in hand. "C'mon, we haven't been _that_ battered by this place yet! I can still paint, after all!"

"Yeah!" I chimed in, fluttering close to my best friend, a determined look on my face. "We're only just starting out, after all! Cheer up! Dee's doing the best he can!"

Marx did his best impression of a casual shrug with his rainbow-crusted wings. It seemed more smug than anything else. "Hey, I'm just stating my opinion, Ribs," he defended himself. "I'm sure some people in the audience," he directed a claw toward the rest of our friends, "share it as well! Go on! Lend me a hand here! I'll take anyone!"

I looked at everyone else.

"Eh, I'll have to disagree with you, mate," Rick said. "I'm still feelin' chipper!"

"So long as I still have the power to bash our foes' feathers in, I'll be fine!" Coo gave his own answer.

"I like tomatoes," Gooey randomly stated. Uhh, good for you, Gooey?

"If you're tired already, I can call in a miniature Lor for you guys to ride," Magolor suggested.

"H-Hmph," Susie huffed, "we—we won't be needing that contraption. Anytime soon. E-Especially not me. That's a fact. Yes." …who's she trying to convince? Herself? I… don't really think that's working.

Addie and I shared an amused look. _Yeah, none of this is really surprising._

Marx pouted a Kokichi-level pout. Methinks he's been hanging out with him too long. "You guys are mean… _No one_ wants to support me? That's just disappointing!"

"Well, you _are_ you," I offered – and hey, it was true enough. "You're not exactly the most… respectful guy out there," understatement of the century, "and keeping you and Kokichi away from Maki can be a real chore."

"Hey, hey, hey—it's her fault for being so stuck-up all the time!" the jester dismissed, a classic beam on his face. "Her and Darky need pick-me-ups all the time, you see – and plenty of other people, too – so what's wrong with me dealing with 'em? It's a healthy, symbiotic relationship! Even if they don't want to admit it!"

…I'm not even going to begin to go into the reasons why that statement is just plain wrong.

 _("I'm, uhh… not sure if that's right," Kine muttered, "considering how explosive things tend to get…"_

 _"Pick-me-ups? I want a pick-me-up," Gooey drooled. "What's it like? Is it tasty?")_

I smiled and sighed. "I can't dissuade you, can I?" That's Marx in a nutshell.

"You know him," Addie said. "The only thing that moves his heart is food." _("It's true!")_

"Do you think he should participate in the next Gourmet Race, then?" I wondered. "Sure, the last one with two Kirbies and two Dededes was nice – but a change of pace is always nice!" I glanced at our grinning jester. "What do you say, Marx? Sound neat?"

"Mmm…" he hummed contemplatively. "Mayyyyybeeeee… I suppose if I do, I can put my focus on other targets for a while… There's plenty of maids and Waddle Dees in the vast ocean, after all!"

…note to self: warn Kirumi about that.

"Close enough, I guess!" Addie lightheartedly shrugged. "I'll be ready to draw a lot of food, then."

"…who and what are you people talking about?" Susie asked us. "Did your planet experience a baby boom while I wasn't looking?"

I folded my arms and glared at her. "Th-That's none of your business," I replied.

She scoffed at my response, though she was still visibly shivering a little. "Suit yourself."

You know, all of this really takes me back. It's been over eighteen years since the hunt for the Crystal Shards—eighteen years since the day I first met Kirby, Dee, Addie, and Dedede—and in that time, a whole lotta things have happened; some pretty awesome, some pretty tense, and some pretty… out there, even by our increasingly worrisome 'wow-this-stuff-barely-phases-us-anymore' standards. I'd put the Ultimates in the latter category if they all weren't practically something else entirely, beyond even that. (I'd give special attention to all the girls, though. Tenko, Miu, Angie, you—you get the idea. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have more girls—I just wonder how Kaede can keep everyone together.)

It really brings me back… even though we had only just met with me falling onto him amidst a meteor shower of Crystal Shards, Kirby was happy to help me out and hunt for all the rest. You wouldn't think he's a lot, if you only take one glance at him, but he really _is_ a lot – with his strength and his happiness and his propensity to make friends out of anything and anyone he sees, I don't think this galaxy would be the same if he weren't here. I'm proud to have him as our makeshift leader.

Our little adventure brought me to the rest of my dearest, closest friends: Bandana Dee, the kind and loyal ally who would fight to protect us all; Addie, the artful adventurer who I'll dance with forever; and King Dedede, the strong king that won't ever give up, not for anything. Without them, I wouldn't have my planet—and they and my queen would still be lost to darkness. Everyone else here is a companion who I'll never regret meeting, too—be it Gooey or Kine or Meta Knight.

…and most of all, I'm really glad to be able to call Addie my best friend.

Though Addie and I haven't gone through as many adventures as our pink and puffy Star Ally, we've seen enough from both of our major journeys together—and all the stuff that happened in-between—to really get accustomed to things on Planet Pop Star. And you know what? I don't really mind it! It's fun, being with my friends and experiencing everything with them, no matter how chaotic things get – and together, we'll fight to keep that still here. Even if we're facing a far larger threat than almost anything we've ever seen before, that won't be any problem for us!

And despite what Magolor's said and all, this whole adventure hasn't been too difficult yet! …well, in his defense, there's still a lot waiting for us; and if the True Arena has shown us anything, it's that things can often be a lot more formidable than they appear. If there's any bright side though… at least we don't have to sit on the sidelines again! That was just awful!

…then again, something like this probably _will_ result in another True Arena, based on what Kirby and Dedede have told us—and it'll like be even _harder_ this time…

…e-erm— _right!_ How 'bout we get back to other things? L-Like—getting a move on! Im-Important stuff like that!

We'll be fine. Maybe there won't even _be_ a True Arena for this! Like Kirby would say—I gotta stay positive!

"Alright, guys!" Dee called out to us. We paused our conversation and turned to him, watching as he quickly dropped from his platform before another mass of Waddle Dees could squash him. "Let's head down! I think there'll be more Friend Hearts this way!"

"We're coming!" I flew in after him, to give him an extra pair of eyes should he need it – and, timing their movements in rhythm with the incoming Waddle Dee balls, everyone else began follow… kinda slowly. _("Why are there so many of these commoners!?"_ Dark Meta scowled. _"And what kind of sorcery do they wield, to do **this** so much!?")_

From what I could see, there were loads more Waddle Dees still ahead—dozens upon dozens of them! "Whoa," I breathed, "there's so many of them! Do—Do they all _live_ here…?"

Addie, quickly jumping to my side, looked just as bewildered as I was. "It—It would take me _days_ to draw out so many Dees!" she stated. "What the heck _is_ this place…!?"

I've never seen so many in one place before, not even at Dedede's place! The sheer amount of Dees here can't ever compare to the number of fairies back at Ripple Star, either. And, of course, there were more Waddle Dees clumped up in those weird boulder formations, falling from the sky and bouncing off the golden ground.

I wonder… are they gathered like that of their own free will? Or… are they being forced to because of whatever has affected this weird dimension?

"I don't know…" said friend answered. "B-But—if—if they're gonna get in our way… th-then—we c-can't hesitate in pushing forward! Th-They'll understand!—I think…"

Just as he said that, a wave of his similarly-appearing not-friends swarmed in up ahead—which I alerted the rest of us to by shouting, "S-Speaking of which…! More Waddle Dees at three o'clock! And they've got lots of spears! …on _fire!"_ Which, uh… probably has something to the fact that there's a Burning Leo in the middle of them.

…wait, I thought only _we_ could do Friend Combo stuff like that!

No fair! Stop stealing Kirby's shticks, you guys! He did it first, literally _years_ before you! (Or so I'm told, anyway…)

"Wow, spears on fire?" Marx's voice trickled in from behind. His head poked out from behind Addie's. "Looks like the action's finally picking up! Neat! Where do I sign up?"

He was promptly interrupted by a fire-tipped spear being flown our way. _H-Holy crap!_ Him, Addie, and I narrowly managed to dodge it—and it traveled pretty far, since I could hear Taranza and Kine exclaim their own startled yelps. The Dees sent another one at us for good measure, and that sent us eliciting a proper reaction. "Wh-What the heck!?" I exclaimed, my face growing panicked. "That—That just came out of _nowhere!"_ Most enemies don't just throw their weapons like that _immediately_ upon meeting us!

"That's not right!" Addie huffed. "I get we're kinda intruding on their space, but—sheesh! They could at least be a little more kind!"

"Trying to ambush us, eh?" Daroach walked up to the front lines, with claws on his fancy red hat and a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Now that's just unacceptable. It seems we'll need to teach these miscreants—" (Pfft! Funny, how it's _he_ who's saying that…) "—a valuable lesson in manners, don't you agree?"

"As if we could do anything else," Dark Meta snorted, his mirror sword already by his side. "I do not find myself in the habit of allowing such slights against my comrades like this. Though they may not know it…" He glared violently at the group. "…they have made a thoroughly large mistake."

"I guess it's our job to teach 'em both facts, then!" Addie grinned. She seemed itching to whip out her canvas and make some magic happen – and I have to admit, I wanted to join her in doing the same! She raised her paintbrush—"And we'll do it in style as well!"

"Yeah!" I flew up and down in joy, whipping out my trusty Crystal Shard gun for the incoming battle. "They won't know what'll hit 'em when we stand united! Together, we'll show 'em what we can do!"

"Pushing on through 'til the battle's won, huh? Well, don't mind if I join in, too!" Marx floated by us, his crystal wings still spread out like a bird. "I'd be a terrible friend if I didn't join in!" (Dark Meta grumbled the opposite thought, as expected.) He sprouted a ball beneath him, lit on fire much like the tips of his jester hat. "The one with the smallest kill count gets to help me graffiti the Lor!" He rushed on in while we were still comprehending his statement.

"G-G-Graffiti the L-Lor!?" I stammered out, Addie and I sharing an alarmed look with each other. "H-H-Hold up!"

(And in the background… _"S-So, u-uhh… you guys are g-gonna just—fight 'em, r-right? Th-Then—I'll go on ahead a little, s-see what Friend Hearts I can find! Th-That'll be okay!")_

And so, in the service of not screwing over Magolor, us five Star Allies moved to fighting off the brigade of Sizzle Spear Dees (plus that one Burning Leo). They, uh, were surprisingly very agile! Their skill level almost reminded me of the guards back home on Ripple Star—just 'cause we're smaller than most people doesn't mean we're not good at fighting! …w-well, I'm not good at fighting myself, b-but—you get the idea!

Luckily for me and Addie, we were _good_ with combination attacks! The two of us spun around in a Fairy Dance, knocking back several Dees before they could strike us. I followed it up with several shots from my gun— _Pew, pew, pew!_ —while Addie brought out her canvas and started painting a nice 'lil Ice Dragon—and before too long, we were wreaking havoc together, putting out every one of these guys' flames with our creation's ice powers!

"Wahoo!" I cheered, pumping my fist up in the air. "I think I've counted five down! We'll win this competition for sure!"

"You've got that right, Ribbon!" Addie agreed. "Nothing can stop us now—not even Another Dimension!"

"You're doing rather fine, I see," I heard Daroach's voice flutter from close on by. His little staff was doing a good job firing Star Bullets all about him, blasting away at the Dees – and he looked about as natural doing it as he probably would on a ballroom. _Ooh, now I want to see him dance!_ "I'm afraid it won't be enough for you, though. As you can see…" Storo—the big blue mouse guy—promptly jumped in and smashed a fair few foes himself. The rest of the Squeak Squad—sometimes I envy Daroach's ability to teleport his guys—were pretty close behind. "…my crew's got things well in hand."

"Hmph." Dark Meta's grunted in a—well, familiar disgruntled manner, followed by _more_ Dees flying away (why are there so many of them?) from his direction. "While _you_ rely on your fellow troops to win this competition, I merely need my own skills. Which are very formidable, I must say." Aww—the way he's trying to make himself look big… It's really endearing! "These fools have no idea what is ahead."

"Eh, who needs weapons?" Cue several beach balls – explosion-inducing, mind you – descending from the sky and causing havoc. Marx let out one of his signature chortles as he flew on in. His noticeably cross-eyed expression probably would've been creepy if we hadn't seen it before about a million times already. "I've got _balls! Balls balls balls balls balls! Look at all them balls!"_

Despite myself, I giggled while Dark Meta groaned. It's juvenile, but… c'mon! It's Marx! He's got _some_ level of charm to him.

Addie seemed in a similar mood. She joked, "That all you got? I can paint us a cannon _full_ of beach balls!" She promptly re-summoned her canvas and proceeded to do just that. It materialized quickly enough and fired at enemy Dees without impunity. _"Ye-ah!"_ she whooped. "Look at 'em soar!"

"You go, Addie!" I cheered alongside her. "We're unstoppable!"

"Remarkably fancy, you two," Daroach praised. He held his magic scepter high, energy visibly welling up at its tip. "However… I've got something just as impressive up my sleeve. Us Squeaks can outmatch you just fine." Oh, is that a challenge?

Our mirror knight bristled challengingly. "Not if I perform that task first," he declared, shifting into a ready-to-attack stance.

"Hey, don't go counting us out now!" I piped up. "We've got plenty more where that came from!" Like Kracko, or that weird ninja dude, or Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright!

"Yep! We'll win this competition for sure!" Addie exclaimed, raising her fist to the sky. "Just watch us! We're gonna paint a masterpiece before your eyes!"

Marx, Dark Meta Knight, and Daroach… If you had asked me a few years ago whether or not these three guys would become some of our best, I would've said no—partially because two of them were dead at the time. Until last March, I thought our Status Quo would remain the same forever, like it always had for the most part. Dream Land, despite all of the crazy adventures that keep happening, is a rather quiet place, and we usually don't get any huge shake-ups to our norm. But in the end… I'm really glad that they're here with us now.

They've got their own quirks like the rest of us, sure: Marx is a trickster of epic proportions, loving nothing more than to stir up trouble with the more serious of us – though it's clear he's harboring some trauma from his stint as a Soul Boss. Dark Meta Knight's an ultra-serious 'edgy' warrior, somehow beating out Meta Knight for that position, but his social skills can leave, uhh… something to be desired. (He tries his best, at least!) And Daroach is something of a treasure hunter – dance-y and fancy and with a crowd of nice mouseys, he's like the cool uncle that helps hold us all together like glue. Not to mention all his bombs and scepters and stuff!

I can't imagine life without them now, especially after us five's solo stint back across the Gamble Galaxy. (Artful Adventurers we were, and artistically awesomely we ventured!) Like Kirby would say, friendship can go quite a long way when you give it a chance. And while some of us would never really admit it, I think they feel exactly the same way.

So—just you wait, Jambandra Cult. You may have an army, and three Mage-Sisters who are pretty dang powerful—but we've got the power of friendship on our side! There's no way you'll be ever to top that, not by a long shot!

Watch us fly onward, and become a shining star!

Dark Meta's eyes glistened with entertainment. "Oh, is that true?" I could tell he was as ready to compete as we were. "We shall see about that…"

And though a bunch more Waddle Dees started to approach us from up ahead, we didn't hesitate. They may be numerous – way more numerous than they really should be – but we could definitely handle them without any huge problems! So, here—we— _go—!_

"Eh, bored now." And then Marx split himself and sucked in a large number of Dees into a black hole.

"What!?" I shouted. "H-Hey, you can't do that!"

"Come on, Marx, play fair—at least, a little!"

"Th-That cheating clown…! Make this contest a jest, will he…!?"

"I see winning will be more difficult than expected… Well, that's a challenge I'll be glad to overcome."

 _"Speak for yourself…!"_ I groaned.

* * *

 **[N/A]**

Not too far away from Team Adeleine & Ribbon…

"Well, that looks stable," Kirby sarcastically remarked, staring at the platform held up only by two square boulders suspended in the air. "Methinks we'll only get one chance at whatever this leads to."

Meta Knight and King Dedede were situated closer to the cannon beneath the blocks, analyzing it with curiosity. "Where's the end of the rope, though?" the king asked, noting how the rope extending from the cannon seemed to head into the nearby wall instead of sticking out in the open. "We can't exactly activate this cannon without lighting it – these ropes are otherwise just too fireproof."

"Perhaps there is an alternate mechanism to it," Meta Knight suggested. "Not all cannons work the same way; it would not surprise me if Another Dimension held itself to the same standard."

 _What wonderful standards,_ Kirby internally drawled.

"Could we initiate the cannon blast ourselves, though?" Magolor brought his own two cents, a floating hand casually throwing a Gem Apple up and down. "It's not like we have a shortage of fire to go around."

Susie rejected that idea immediately: "This model will not work that way, unfortunately," she stated. "Many cannons around the Gamble Galaxy are like this. Seeing as there appears to be no immediate way to use it effectively, I elect we should get a 'move on,' as they say."

"We can't do that," Kirby denied. "This thing might bring us to some more Friend Hearts – and instinct tells me we're definitely going to need as many of them as we can bring." Several adventures worth of collectibles told him that much. (Though it did lead to the question of how boss arenas can be blocked behind them…) "We can't leave without them. Trust me on that."

"You do realize this may be like the Code Cubes, Pinky? You didn't need _all_ of them on your adventure, surely."

("And the Sun Stones!" Taranza chimed in from a little farther away.)

"I'm not taking any risks. Things'll be different this time. I know it."

Susie threw her hands up in the air. "Fine, whatever you say." It helped that, this being Another Dimension—the bane of her existence—a part of her was very much feeling the same way. "Then how do we activate this cannon? And don't tell me 'the power of friendship' or other unsubstantiated nonsense like that."

"Dee might have an answer." The puffball glanced toward Bandana Dee, who was noticeably poking at the nearby wall where the rope had gone into. The temporary leader raised a fist and knocked at it. "H-Hmm…" he was muttering. "M-Maybe…" And then he raised his spear and swung into it—and somehow, the spear went right through the solid matter.

A light bulb lit up in his mind. "G-Guys!" he called out, hopping up and down in excitement. "I—I think th-the end of the rope's i-in the wall! S-Since I think our weapons c-can go through it… we—we might be a-able to light it from there!"

The Haltmann CEO looked weirded out. "…are you joking?" she asked.

Kirby seemed unphased. "I'll take it!" he happily said.

"Pass-through walls?" Dedede closed his eyes and rubbed the side of his head. "I'd say I'm surprised, but… I'd be kinda lying, at this point."

"Whatever the case may be, that is certainly excellent news," Meta Knight said. "Now all we need is the Sizzle element."

Magolor tossed his Gem Apple away. "Can do!" he proclaimed. "Give me the signal, and I'll get the flames ready!"

* * *

It was decided then that not _everyone_ should enter the cannon – it wasn't all _too_ big, and some of the Star Allies needed to remain so they could to catch up with Adeleine and her crew. Thus, Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Bandana Dee, Magolor, and Susie were shot forth to the requisite 'bonus area', while Rick, Kine, Coo, Gooey, and Taranza waited for them to return.

Thanks to cartoon logic, the cannon ballooned enough—just barely—to fit the six Star Allies in and summarily blast them off at full speed. This, of course, did not mean it was at all comfortable: they were clumped up into a single ball much like the Waddle Dees from before, which made things exceedingly awkward.

Well, for Magolor and Susie, anyway.

("How do you do this all the time?" the mage asked. "I don't think I've ever felt so… clustered in my life."

The core Star Allies' eyes looked briefly at each other before collectively replying, "Eh, you get used to it."

A grunt. "You know, you people continuously surprise me with your cooperative nature, I swear…")

Eventually though, the collective group slammed into a wall—and promptly separated onto the ground. "Well, that was fun enough!" Kirby stated happily. "I almost wish that was a Friend Wheel instead."

"I don't," Susie groaned, brushing off the dust on her cultured suit. "I hope we never have to do something as uncivilized as that again."

 _Good luck with that,_ Meta Knight internally snorted. _I predict we'll be going through all our Friend Formations before the day's done._

Bandana Dee, like everyone else, soon got off the floor— _Man, the floor feels… transcendently warm and cold?_ he thought. _Is—Is that actually a th-thing?_ —and noticed something peculiar just up ahead: a switch, sitting alone and seemingly supported by nothing. There also happened to be a translucent wall behind it (presumably, another one-way weapon one) with its own switch inside. _W-Well, if that's not something to check out, th-then I don't know what is!_

The temporary leader wisely elected to ignore the first switch in favor of seeing whatever the second one within the wall did. This attracted the attention of the other five Star Allies, naturally, with Dedede being the first to pipe up and say, "Hey, what's with the switch in the wall?"

"I d-dunno," Bandana Dee replied, "b-but—I'm—I'm gonna find out!"

As the other three core members stood by his side, he jammed his spear into the wall—and then something rumbled from behind them. Turning around, the four saw a patch of the ground in front of them descending downward, much like an elevator. Experimentally, Dee hit it again, and the floor moved back up.

Meta Knight hummed. "Intriguing," he stated.

"Why would the switch need to be all the way over here, though?" Kirby wondered. "There's no reason why the other switch can't be the activator, too…" Speaking of which…

Another click echoed—but it wasn't from the wall switch. The four Star Allies blinked, and turned to look at the other switch they were talking about… and noticed Magolor had accidentally wandered over it. The wizard looked below him for a moment, before looking back up. "…whoops?" he shrugged.

Susie facepalmed.

This promptly resulted in—close to a set of more unbreakable stones at the other end of the room—another ball of Waddle Dees dropping in, which proceeded to start rolling toward the gang at an unprecedented speed. And, of course, Magolor and Susie were closest to it.

 _You have got to be kidding me,_ Kirby deadpanned as he watched the two of them—with Susie suiting up—try to hold back the glorified tumbleweed from getting any closer. _**More**_ _Dees? Does this place have a fetish for them or something?_

Under his breath, Dedede muttered, "I'm-a thinking my Dees should learn some new formations now. I'm pretty sure they can pull off the Friend Wheel just fine…"

"Ugh…" Susie grunted. "Wh-What is with these cretins' combined mass…!?" Her Business Suit was visibly struggling to push the Dees away, and Magolor wasn't having any better luck (he didn't have the benefit of a bulky mech, after all). "You would think that they'd be nothing more than worthless guards, but…!"

"That's—That's just… the nature… of this place," Magolor said. "It can do… a lot of things… you wouldn't expect…!"

"O-Oh no! I—I have to h-help them, somehow!" Bandana Dee exclaimed. Acting quickly, he jammed his spear into the wall switch again. To the other two, he shouted, _"Guys! Jump over here! The f-floor's down; it should draw the other Dees down!"_

"W-Well, okay, if you say so!" As fast as they could, the mage and the CEO broke away and made a mad dash over the newly created pit—Meta Knight half-wondered how that thing _she_ called a 'suit' could jump around like that—and the ball of Dees soon dropped into it and stopped troubling them.

Magolor wiped his forehead. "Phew!" he exclaimed. "That was close!"

"Too close," Susie grumbled.

 _Not close enough,_ Meta Knight thought.

"At—At least e-everybody's okay, th-then!" Bandana Dee stated, closing his eyes in delight. "Wh-What now, though…?"

"Hmm…" Kirby puffed up and slowly descending down the open pathway, an eyebrow briefly raised when he didn't see anything apart from the bunch of Dees collapsing away. Of course, that didn't last long when another mass of them dropped downward, rolling in the opposite direction. That gave the puffball an idea.

He moved back up, exhaled, and said, "Hey, Dee! Hit that switch one more time, will ya?"

"Somethin' coming, Kirby?" Dedede asked.

"You could say that." If he was right, and there _were_ collectibles here (and why wouldn't there be)…

"O-Okay!" The bandana-totting assistant hit the switch one last time—and as the ground rose back up, a crowd of groans going out at the sight of yet another bunch of Dees. "Do they ever end?" Susie rhetorically asked.

This one wasn't endangering them, luckily – and before they knew it, it had crashed into the stone blocks at the end of the corridor, revealing three shiny Friend Hearts (and two Puzzle Pieces) sitting out right in the open. "Bingo," Kirby grinned. _Just what we needed._

"W-Wow!" Bandana Dee seemed awed. "They—They were in _there?_ We—We could've totally missed them, if I h-hadn't gotten the platform b-back up…!"

"…so this is how things are going to be," Meta Knight mused, a hand beneath where his chin would be. "We won't be having an easy ride this time around, I see."

"Eh, we can handle it!" Dedede confidently stated. "We're not alone on this venture, after all."

"Joy," Susie deadpanned.

* * *

 **Dimension I – Third Hero Trial**

With his hammer sparkling with electricity and Bandana Dee perched safely on his back (as the little guy had gotten somewhat tired), King Dedede charged forward with his fellow Star Allies behind him, bashing away at any poor Floaty or wooden crate in his way. "Remember your team formations, everyone!" he shouted. "Don't show 'em any mercy!"

"Y-Yeah! S-Stay strong, everybody!" Dee cheered.

"Doing our best on that front," Magolor replied, Magic Spheres homing in on any poor schmuck trying to close in. Beside him, Rick and Gooey were doing their best to assist, with the former breathing out a volley of flames and the latter shooting bolts in his Mock Matter form. It was something of a spectacle to behold. "Shame we have to fight the equivalent of an army to do that, though!"

"Well mate, that's life," Rick remarked, spinning around and literally needling a few more foes.

Gooey would've had a response (maybe), but he was too busy drooling.

Approaching what appeared to be a fairly long ladder trek, Rick whistled for his friends. "Hey, Coo—come give us a lift, will ya?"

"I'm on it, I'm on it!" The cranky owl swooped down, grabbed Rick—and Kine, who was nearby—and started flapping his way upward. Magolor (and Gooey) followed, the wizard utilizing his ability to hover efficiently.

"So," he casually conversed, "how have you guys been? You know, apart from the apocalypse happening."

"We've been better," Kine verbally shrugged. "I know I would've preferred more water in this place."

"I think it's pretty," Gooey relayed his thoughts. "The world reminds me of a rainbow, if it was the opposite way around. That's what it's like."

"I think there needs to be less blinding colors first!" Coo complained. "Just look at this place! It's so bright, you can barely make anything out from the ground! That's a problem with half of the places we visit—that ship from earlier included, even!"

 _I should try to install a night mode for the Lor then,_ the mage mused. _She might appreciate it—Coo too, maybe, if what he's saying isn't just exhaustion._

"Really?" Rick questioned. "I don't think there's anythin' wrong with it. Don't you think there's a bit of a beauty to it?"

"Yeah—if you have no appreciation for art at all. I prefer a patch of darkness over me myself, you hear? Good to sleep to! And also doesn't make any weird noises when I'm not looking!"

Magolor chuckled. "Just a regular 'ol night owl, aren't you?"

"Well, of course!" Coo grumped as the group moved from the ladder segment and down a drop, the pilot firing off a few cutter projectiles to ward away a nearby Floaty the Cell Core. "I live in a Great Forest, perch on trees, and—well, I'm an _owl._ What did you expect, an eagle? A pigeon, even?"

"Whoa, don't get your feathers all up in a tinny, now!" Rick laughed. "We're not racking off your artistic eye or anythin'!"

"It's okay," Gooey innocently said. "I'm sure there are others who appreciate your interests. You don't have to be alone in the world." He quickly spewed a shot of lightning out before continuing, "Kirby says age doesn't mean anything sometimes, so it should apply to you, too."

"A-A-Age!?" the bird squawked. "Are—Are you calling me _old!?"_

Kine sighed. "Oh boy… He's rifled up now. This won't be good."

"Why?" Magolor blinked. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"Oh, you're in for it now, you little—!"

* * *

 _Another door, another challenge,_ Dedede thought, hammer still at the ready. _Let's do this._

He slammed and zapped the switch block in front of him and he announced aloud, "Okay, Star Allies." He took a deep breath. "Get ready for whatever's ahead—"

Just as the door finished opening, two curling stones—with a familiar mage on top of one of them, practically screaming his lungs off _(I didn't know Magolor's voice could go that high,_ his mind idly commented)—burst in and bounced and slammed all about the room, hitting all the conveniently placed wooden posts on the walls and ceiling, and then sliding into the newly created corridors—and, wouldn't you know it, _three_ 'Friend Heart collected!' jingles echoed thereafter.

"Ha!" Coo's voice shouted. "How do you like _that,_ huh!?"

This was followed by a long-suffering groan from Kine.

A brief silence took place within the room as the eleven other Star Allies attempted to register the chaos that had just occurred. "Wh-What just happened!?" Bandana Dee squeaked. No one really had a coherent answer.

…they did have a coherent _response,_ though. "Woo! Ten outta ten throw!" Marx whooped, jumping up and down on his beach ball. "Do it again, do it again! But _better!"_

"Yeah, yeah!" Ribbon agreed. "And include us this time! I wanna take a ride on Gooey, too!"

Kirby and Dedede traded brief glances with each other. "Well, I suppose that works too," the king decided moments after.

* * *

"Up, down, and all around~" Kirby sang off-key, kicking away a Waddle Doo before he could come to close with his sparks. Said Doo seemed pained by more than just the hit. (Nobody ever claimed Kirby could sing.) "The fun just never ends, when these guys are abound~!"

"You can say that again!" Marx said, launching another explosive ball down from his place in the sky. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say they _want_ to get their butts beaten! Which is fine by me, of course!"

"What," the puffster grinned, "you wanna get your spooks in?"

"You know me! Former villain, remember? Gotta indulge in a bit of that old bad guy spirit every now and then! And there's never a better chance than now!" Immediately afterward, he made his familiar _'Shoop da whoop!'_ face and bawled out a bright white laser. The poor Poppy Bro. Jr. and his compatriots never saw it coming. "Like so!"

Kirby raised an eyebrow. "I see. I guess messing with everyone else isn't enough?"

"Eh—sometimes, you just need more, y'know?" Marx shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, they're _fine—_ but who doesn't like some more chaos in their life? I don't, that's for sure!"

This was not at all a surprising statement, given that this was coming out of _Marx's_ mouth—but it still made Kirby smile. _He may not readily admit it, but he's really integrated well with us. Who would've thought that, once upon a time, he tried to take over Pop Star?_ Even Meta Knight had accepted his presence… kinda, sorta. (There was some more work to be done in the trust department, in that regard.)

 _There's always room for a second chance. It doesn't matter who it is, or what they've done, to an extent—if they can be a friend, I'll always strive to get them there._

… _Well, enough thinking. As Marx's friend of sorts, I think it's only right that we liven things up a little before we finish things up here._

"In that case… how 'bout we do a team-up attack? Just you and me… and these guys over here, I guess."

"Hey, hey, hey—I like the way you think, Kirby!"

Within seconds, Kirby had hopped upon the former antagonist's back, and the two began glowing white, the sound of _something_ charging reaching every enemy's ears. They collectively gulped, the duo flashing a bright smile at them as their visions were promptly 'brightened up'—

" _ **SUPERSTAR FRIENDSHIP BEAM, GO!"**_

* * *

 **[Coo]**

 **Dimension I – Fourth Hero Trial**

"Go, go, go, Coo, don't stop!" Rick said.

"What do you _think_ I'm trying to do!?" I replied, frustrated. "I don't wanna get smashed as much as you two do!"

"Be careful," Kine warned, "that ceiling seems to be getting closer and closer…"

Flapping my wings as much as I could, the three of us swerved through the obstacles in our way as I struggled to make our way past this descending tower. When I woke up today in the Great Forest, I was _not_ expecting an endurance challenge like _this!_ Where did all the easy adventure stuff from March go!? Does the universe suddenly have a vendetta against us or something!?

Bah, whatever! It'll make the ensuing fight we have against these villains more satisfying in the end! If we can get that far, we'll be good to go!

A veritable amount of chaos rained all around us, most of it created from all of our allies, slamming into all the Kabus and the weird shielded guys and whatnot—and maneuvering around everything was a bit of a struggle, considering how cramped this tower was. There was barely enough space to fit us all in, let alone the enemies!

Oh, and then another shield guardian came down from the sky right in front of us, because of course it did! Yeah, we can totally fit _that_ in.

"Oh no, not another one!" Kine cried.

"Ugh, we don't have time for this!" I grumbled. I spread out my wings and fired a barrage of cutter blades at him, cutting him to shreds before he could blink. There was no time to celebrate it, though; the ground was still vibrating and heading downward. I called out to our temporary leader, "Hey, Meta Knight! How much more do we have to go!?"

"Halfway!" he gruffly shouted back.

…well, crud!

"Looks like we're in for the long haul, mates!" Rick informed us. He sniffed the air. "Hey… My nose 's telling me about a corker nearby!" His head turned to face a nearby alcove, appearing even smaller than the corridors we were in. "How 'bout we handle this one ourselves?"

You know what? Sure, let's do that! I've got my misgivings about everything's that going on, don't get me wrong – but I'm in the mood to relieve some stress! And at least this is something familiar!

…maybe _too_ familiar, actually—the things we had to do for the Heart Stars still give me and the others nightmares—but I suppose I'll have to take it!

If the world wants the show us a thing or two, then it's only right that we do the same in turn! We've missed a pretty significant part of Kirby's adventures, sure. I mean, before last March, we hadn't had any significant journeys since the second Dark Matter invasion. But we've had our own fair share of tales, worthy of Dream Land's sleepy-crazy reputation—so I'd say we're more than prepared for anything that comes our way!

Maybe I should thank Kirby for this opportunity sometime; I've been itchin' to show my stuff a little, you know? We weren't just sidekicks during the Dark Matter invasions, and it's about time we show everyone else that for themselves! We've got a whole crowd of people here, after all, and we're gonna do our best to reach that coveted MVP spot!

Heh—you know, once upon a time, I would've just been content to just lay around in the Great Forest, doing nothing more but relaxing with Rick and Kine, and occasionally eating a good lunch with them. (What can we say, we Dream Landers love having a good meal to snack on!) I can't say we've exactly hit that perfect kind of calm again since Kirby came around… and sure, the friends around me can get a little irritating sometimes when all you want to do is sleep in the branch of your favorite tree… but in the end, I can't say I really regret how things turned out. There's something… charming about having so many people, so many friends that I wouldn't have met on my own.

…Kirby's really got a unique hold over us, huh? Barging in one day and somehow managing to make friends with each and every person, be them a good-natured person or a stereotypical villain, being all bright and happy despite whatever circumstances we find ourselves in—I don't think I've ever appreciated it fully… though part of that might be because I can get rather preoccupied on the targets of my ire, admittedly. That's a problem I've always had—but it's not like it's ever really steered me wrong before, so whatever! The point is, Kirby's someone really special, and having him here ain't a bad thing!

…wait, what was I doing again?

Oh, right—collectible business!

"That's fine by me!" I replied to Rick. "I'm not gonna pass this chance now! And on the off chance there's an enemy waiting ahead… then all the better we trash 'em into chunks of curry!"

"If the two of you are going for it, then I'm hopping in too," Kine added in his two cents. "We're a trio, after all—and the more Friend Hearts we have, the better, I suppose. We should hurry up and get a move on."

Without another word—aside from me shouting to Meta Knight, "Heading up to explore this alcove!" (because he's a bit of an orderly person)—the three of us soared into the tiny corridor. As we dropped through, there were three things in the immediate vicinity: two Friend Hearts—"Heh heh, looks like my intuition was right!" Rick bragged—and, of course, another one of those shielded folks. Who was on fire, too, because why wouldn't he be?

"There also happens to be a Shielder here, in case you didn't catch it," I deadpanned. "And he's sizzling." And he didn't particularly looked pleased by our presence, mind you.

"Well then," Kine said, "I guess that means we should give him a splash, shouldn't we?"

"You got that right!" I grinned. "C'mon, you two—let's make this quick!"

* * *

 **[Kine]**

If you were to ask anyone about me—heck, if you were to ask _me_ about myself—we'd all describe me as being a simple guy. Not like Gooey, of course, I don't think anyone's as simpleminded as he can get – I'm just a simple fish with simple desires.

I'm not the most skilled in combat, nor am I really the guy to ask for platforming challenges. I can't sniff out the exact locations of collectibles, and often times I find it difficult to parse the events going about our adventures. But that doesn't mean I won't give it my best shot anyway – 'cause honestly, how could I not when everyone else is doing the same?

We're all fighting in our own way, dashing across the largest distance we can go under our own power, united under one banner; swimming through the depths of the ocean to reach that one treasure we're all seeking. We seem so different, so impossible to fit together, and yet here we are. Sixteen Star Allies, doing our best to save what we hold dear.

And to nobody's surprise, this whole dimension is doing its best to counteract our desires in whatever way it can.

Hordes of enemies atop ladders and platforms – that type of thing is something we've grown accustomed to over the past few months. That in itself wasn't the major problem: it was them _plus_ Chef Kawasaki EX here to ruin our day. And this monochromatic chef was a fair doozy to deal with this time.

As everyone else dealt with the crowd on the lower platforms, Rick, Coo, and I—with Taranza accompanying us—were clashing with Kawasaki as he threw a crazy amount of food at us, in an attempt to… start a food fight, I dunno.

"Wh-What the h-heck is this guy!?" Taranza panicked, sprouting a Dreamstalk to block the array of misused lunch. "Wh-Who has th-that much food to s-spill!?"

As I shot a crescent laser from my mouth at the chef—yes, I can actually do that—I replied, "This guy, apparently. Who knows what he's been doing before we came here?" Surely it couldn't be doing anything productive.

Close by, Rick transformed into a boulder and didn't hesitate to ram into Kawasaki's face. This got the guy to stop wasting food, which I'm sure Kirby would appreciate it. "C'mon, mates, don't hold back!" he stated as he detransformed. "This chipper fellow definitely won't do the same for us!"

"If only things were so easy," Coo lamented. He shook his head. "Alright, everybody—let's get our act together!" With the three of us Animal Buddies united as one, we swished and slashed at our foe, utilizing our vast arsenal against his mighty cooking prowess. I say we make a mighty fine team, if I do say so myself – and Taranza managed to fit in well with our fighting style, getting a few of his own hits in with his String Shots. He can fight, I'll give him that, though it's evident his timid nature's holding him back a little. (I wonder if something happened to him before.)

Kawasaki tried a different strategy, taking out his ladle and using it like a whip. I don't think that's at all how cooking tools work, but nevertheless, it meant we had to do some more dodging – a bit tricky for a person of my species, but I'll survive. I don't fancy becoming fried fish or canned tuna, thank you very much.

And bad fried fish, at that; I've seen the skills of two different Chef Kawasakis before, in two very different worlds. I have no desire to see where this one's abilities fall on that spectrum.

An idea then struck me. "Hey, Taranza," I called out to the spider, "can your Web Hold latch on to objects?"

He jolted, startled. "O-O-Oh! Y-Yes," he confirmed. "I—I can do that. Wh-Why do you ask, K-Kine?"

Just what we needed. "I've got an idea," I told him. "Grab his ladle and hold on to it as hard as you can! Give us a good opening!"

"G-Gotcha!" He held up a hand and summoned the electro web attached by a string—and as fast as he could do it, he made it 'eat' Kawasaki's ladle. The chef seemed surprised by our strategy, and valiantly tried to free his tool from Taranza's clutches. Luckily, he wasn't having any of that—and neither were we.

"Enemy's distracted," I observed aloud. "Rick, Coo – you two ready?"

"Ready when you are, mate!"

"Pfft—do you even have to ask, Kine?"

"Alright. On my mark, then: one, two… _three!"_

Fire, ice, and lightning rained down from the three of us, creating an elemental hailstorm that the mid-boss couldn't escape from. It was beautiful, a work of art – and I know Coo would probably brag about having such a combo in front of the Mage-Sisters' faces. Given that the chef was putting most of his attention to him and Taranza's tug-of-war fight, he was forced to tank all of the hits – and suffice to say, he went down fairly quickly afterward. It made me smile.

I'll say it again: I'm not the best fighter or adventurer. Don't ever mistake me for having those traits. But it's not like I can't contribute to the journeys we go on, either. Call me useless, call me whatever you'd like – there's a reason Kirby never ceases to have me around whenever he's given the chance.

…it's kinda funny, in a way, how everything comes back around to Kirby. I don't think I would have ever gotten the courage to do any of these things now – making new friends, going on adventures, fighting a whole host of bad guys – if it wasn't for him helping me gather it all up. Heck, if it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have met my wife Mine as well. She's the light of my life, the apple of my eye, in the same way that Rick has Pick as his special somebody. I think that's something I'll always thank Kirby for – though he shrugged it off as 'just helping out a friend of mine'.

He's really touched all our lives over on Planet Pop Star. I don't think there's a single person whose life he hasn't affected in some capacity – and I could probably extend that statement all the way across the whole Gamble Galaxy, since I know he's pretty ancient and whatnot. (Void Termina in March was partial proof of that.) We've really been blessed to have him here – and now, we have the opportunity to help pay him back for everything he's done for us.

He's not as alone as he used to be, when it was just him trekking back and forth across Dream Land. He's got a virtual army by his side, and none of us are gonna let the opposing forces get through to him now.

Whatever the Jambandra Cult wants to do… they'll have to go through us to achieve. And when we're together like this… we're utterly unstoppable.

I hope they know what they've gotten themselves into.

The barrage died down, and Chef Kawasaki's unconscious body was all that was left. Taranza dropped his ladle and wiped some sweat from his forehead. "P-Phew! Th-That was intense!" he expressed.

"Eh, it's no more intense than what we usually get up to," Rick remarked. He walked over to Taranza and beamed. The arachnid seemed nervous under it. "You know, you were pretty good back there!" He patted him on the back – the little guy seems pretty prone to being startled, now that I think about it – continuing, "You're like a natural with that magic – which is saying somethin', 'cause we've got plenty of naturals doin' their thing here."

"Y-You… You really think so?"

"It's not if we think so – we _know_ so!" Coo interjected, flapping his wings. "Any type of talent here is a good talent in my books!"

"You'll do just fine," I reassured the regent. "You deserve to be a Star Ally, don't worry." Anyone who's a friend (or tentative friend) of Kirby will always fall under that category. Taranza won't be any different. (Besides, he could certainly use the confidence boost.) "Just believe in yourself a little more, and I think you can go a long way." I gave out my best impression of a soft smile toward him. "You get us?"

He blinked and blushed, before looking away and quietly whispering, "…I hear you. I'll—I'll try my b-best, then."

Well… That's one step forward, at least.

* * *

 **[N/A]**

 **Dimension I – Fifth Hero Trial**

"This is undignified," Susie grumbled. "So unprofessional."

"For once, I agree with you," Meta Knight reluctantly added on.

Dark Meta Knight grunted an agreement of his own.

And Kirby… Kirby was all smiles and rainbows, as expected. "Oh come on, guys!" he said. "This isn't _that_ bad!"

The 'this' he was referring to was, of course, him and the others in a Friend Bridge formation, awkwardly grabbing onto either each other's legs or the poles on both sides of the chasm they were suspended over. This was normally nothing special, but for the others, their 'not-Kirby' participants beside them was… awkward, to say the least.

" _You_ can say that just fine," Dark Meta Knight groused. "You're friends with every peasant here. The three of us are… more nominally so."

"You couldn't have done this with Dedede and Bandana Dee?" Meta Knight was levying his own two cents. "You know well I'm much more comfortable with them in doing this." _My only solace,_ he thought, _is that I don't have to do this with_ _ **Marx**_ _. That would be… simply compromising._

"Keep at it, Susie," the CEO was muttering, "keep it up. Don't let Pinky get to you. Remember your mission now…"

"Don't be so complaining so much, now! In just a second, that Wonkee'll drop down and we'll be able to open the door!" The sounds of enemies spawning echoed from the platforms above. "Get ready—here he comes!"

"Hey…" Susie narrowed her eyes. "That doesn't sound like _one_ target appearing, that sounds like _many—"_

She didn't get a chance to finish her statement before the weight of several Waddle Dees, big and small, descended down and started walking all over the bridged four. Another awkward silence began to play as they and the aforementioned Wonkee waddled on and on – and while bumping into each other and constantly reversing direction, too.

It should be noted that the Wonkee wasn't getting anywhere near the locked door.

"…well, this is an unfortunate predicament," Meta Knight deadpanned.

Dark Meta Knight struggled to keep himself from twitching. "This… This is… an unforgivable sin…" he grounded out. "Kirby—how may we… finish this task in an adequately speedy manner?"

Kirby brought his gaze past the pole he was hanging on to. There were columns of spikes both behind that one and the one behind him. "I think we've gotta carefully take out the Dees using the spikes! The Wonkee can't get through with all of them in the way."

Susie carefully contemplated the amount of Dees waddling over her— _Note to self: wash business suit after I'm done with this_ —and the speed at which they were going. And then she considered the length of the 'bridge' she and her temporary teammates were making.

She made a disgruntled face. "…you three are lucky I'm in this for the long haul," she quietly muttered. "Okay. Let's get this done already."

* * *

 **Dimension I – Forest Haven**

At last, after a treacherous journey, the Star Allies had reached the end of the road – well, one road, to be more accurate. A golden road – without any enemies or obstacles – lay ahead, with only a collection of Copy Essences breaking up the empty path above the overhead platforms. In the background, gorgeous golden trees littered the sides, growing larger toward the end where the gate to the boss awaited.

Kirby beheld upon the way with a neutral expression, taking in the scenery with interest, a fiery hat burning atop his head. "Well, guys," he said to the crowd behind him, "here we are. Our first real boss fight." He looked back. "You guys all ready?"

Despite the challenges they had all faced, everyone else was mostly intact, aside from a few scrapes picked up along the way. And the one thing they all had in common was a determined expression hanging on their features, plus weapons at the ready. "Whatever's coming up, we're prepared to face it with you!" Adeleine replied.

"Yeah, we're ready!" Ribbon agreed.

"Let's hurry up and get this party started already!" Marx exclaimed. It seemed as if he—and all the other Star Allies—had adjusted well enough to the atmosphere of Another Dimension. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out the real fun is just about to begin!"

Magolor scratched the back of his head. "W-Well, I wouldn't say 'fun' myself… But I suppose if that's how you want to see it, I won't stop you."

"W-W-Whoa…" Bandana Dee, meanwhile, was gazing out into the forest beyond. "I—I didn't th-think there could be s-something so… b-b-beautiful here," he voiced in awe. His feelings was mirrored by more than a few people in the hallway. "I-It's… too bad w-we won't get a ch-chance to appreciate it, th-though…"

… _he's right,_ Kirby thought. _In another time, another place, I could see myself having a nice picnic here. It's… really serene._ It was honestly surprising how such an untouched paradise could even exist in a chaotic location such as Another Dimension, and it brought a nice sort of reprieve, right before they were to be dropped into yet another hellhole of pain. _I can't say I've really missed EX Bosses – but it's not like I can send in complaints to NOVA and force him to change things._ Aloud, he noted, "I kinda wish I brought a camera now. Something like this really deserves to be captured on film." His cell phone… wouldn't exactly cut it for this.

King Dedede nodded his approval. "I guess that means we better take it in while we can," he stated. "After all, when we're fighting, we're gonna be a little too focused on trying not to die to look at it."

The crowd of sixteen walked through the forest, Kirby momentarily stopping to grab Yo-Yo from the arrangement of Copy Essences—and also get Rick to apply the Sizzle element for him. Soon enough, the group had reached the boss gate at the end, decorated with those ornate shapes found throughout the dimension, seemingly towering over them in an intimidating manner. Kirby could practically _feel_ the power emanating from it. It also smelled like apples, for some reason.

"So… our next foe at last awaits us," Meta Knight said. Yellow eyes glared at the door, Galaxia practically itching to get a scratch in on it. "Let us show our strength and triumph over this trial. The sooner we get this done, the better off we'll be in the long term."

"I concur," Daroach added. "We don't have infinite time to spend on this mission, unfortunately. Or infinite energy, might I add."

"And infinite mobility," Kine muttered.

"I hear ya, I hear ya," Kirby replied. He turned his head back toward the door. "Right. Here we go." _Showtime._

Without any further hesitation, the pink puffball put his hand on the knobs and pulled back. With a brilliant white light shining through the increasingly wider cracks, the gate soon opened up completely – and, once the light fully died down, the Star Allies ran through it and into the awaiting arena, one by one.

* * *

 **Location:** ?

The golden forest haven had disappeared – and in its place, was a color scheme consisting almost entirely of blues, blacks, and purples, almost sinister in the way they were laid out. The atmosphere could best be described as 'transcendent nighttime', though some others would describe it as simply disturbingly silent. Behind the Star Allies, the gate which they had entered from disappeared entirely, providing no escape from what was to come. _Fine by us._

The large black tree in front of them was at first uncomfortably still, its branches and leaves encompassing a large section of the concealed skyline above their heads. Nevertheless, the group was not fooled by this quiet, all of them gathering their swords and spears and hammers and et cetera by their sides, perfectly positioned to begin thrusting and swinging – and as if it were personally answering these actions, the tree began to shake and scuffle.

Unnaturally glowing golden eyes widened above the tree's 'nose', as well as a similarly-sized mouth – and the newly awakened Whispy Woods clone proceeded to show its displeasure with a just-as-unnatural roar at the assembled group before him.

"Holy crud," Adeleine breathed.

"Wh- _Whispy?"_ Rick stared aghast. "Is—Is that you?"

"No," Magolor corrected him. "That's not Whispy."

Kirby's mind supplied him the information he needed. "Yeah. That _definitely_ isn't him. This guy, he's…"

Otherworldly Arbor  
 **Parallel Woods**

"…Parallel Woods."

* * *

 **VS. Parallel Woods**

As the fabric of spacetime breaks down, four Heavenly Kings rise. These unholy incarnations of past foes are united in their desire to wreak havoc—and Whispy Woods is no exception! Imbued with terrible new power, this rotten, blighted arbor won't go down without a fierce fight!

* * *

"It doesn't matter what he's called!" Dedede declared. "He's in our way—and I know he's not getting out of it without a fight!"

The regent of Dream Land was correct; Parallel Woods seemed intent on taking out the intruders that dared to stand in his realm. Taking initiative, King Dedede, Bandana Dee, Dark Meta Knight, and Magolor began assaulting the EX Boss, hard. _There's no time to waste,_ Dedede thought— _only time to get clobbering!_

The rest stayed back and played things more defensively. Kirby was sure to use the lengthy string on his yo-yo to his advantage; Adeleine and Ribbon stayed behind and painted some creatures to send out; and most of everyone else had some form of projectiles to work with.

"Hmph—is this the best that this world could throw at us?" Dark Meta Knight scoffed. A trio of giant apples attempted to drop on his head, which he easily dodged. "I'm almost disappointed with this unsatisfactory approach."

"I'll—I'll t-take it!" Bandana Dee stammered in reply, spinning his spear above his head. "If—If he's e-easier than expected, th-then all the better, r-right!?"

"Now that's the spirit!" Magolor cheered, as he fired a Revolution Flame forward from his hands. "Just make sure to keep your wits about you as you go!"

Swathes of flame along with pointy objects of all kinds struck the tree furiously, and he unsurprisingly didn't take it kindly. The minute he got a chance, he opened his mouth and began inhaling as hard as he could. Which was very hard, as things so happened to be. Magolor's warning proved true; Bandana Dee and Dark Meta Knight, having been too close, promptly got eaten whole by the demented tree— _"A-A-Ahhhhhhh!"; "G-Guh—!"_ —with Dedede and Magolor barely managing to avoid suffering their fate. Twelve other Star Allies pushed their feet as far as they could go – and it should be noted that Parallel Woods' inhale almost rivaled 'Lil Kirbs in its sheer power.

"'Oy! What is this!?" Rick complained, fur ruffling in the wind. "Who does this bloke think he is, Kirby?"

Said puffball was grumbling under his breath, "I… should've gotten… an ability with a better dash attack… than this," as he ran.

And then there were those who were practically panicking at the seams. Adeleine and Ribbon were flailing their arms about, the latter hanging on to the former as tightly as possible – and Taranza… looked about ready to let out a rather girly scream. (So he hadn't been in a big fight in about four years. That didn't mean this didn't scare him!)

Eventually, Parallel Woods ceased his inhaling, and the Star Allies screeched to a halt. Now they had a different problem on their hands. Kirby grimaced at the sight of the sentient tree… _chewing_ Bandana Dee and Dark Meta Knight in his cheeks. _Okay, that's just disturbing._

"…I didn't know trees could do that," Magolor stated warily.

"Th-Th-They're not s-supposed to," Taranza stuttered nervously. "Not even Flowery Woods d-does that…"

"Hey!" Ribbon spoke up, her volume growing by several octaves. Beside her, Adeleine was gripping her paintbrush tightly, having a glare equal in intensity to her fairy friend's. "Let our friends go! _Now!"_

"Yeah! Darky ain't food," Marx interjected with his own objection, "even if he looks like it!"

The three of them—Adeleine, Ribbon, and Marx—ran up to Parallel Woods and started rapidly attacking him with paint, crystals, and balls, in a scene that gave Kirby quite a bit of déjà vu. _I guess they remember seeing the True Arena._ Shaking his head, he and Dedede moved to join them. "You better not be as good as swallowing things as I am, buddy!" he exclaimed.

The nine remaining Star Allies, meanwhile, were preoccupied in combatting Parallel Woods' virtual army of vicious roots. "Well, this is a fine pickle we're in," Coo grouched. Kine was hanging off his feet as they flew about dodging the sprouting roots, due to the fish's relative lack of mobility. "This guy knows how to multi-task! Things can't ever be easy, can it?"

Susie blasted away at a rather persistent root. It refused to go down. "You should've expected that when we came to Another Dimension," she admonished. She grunted as she kept at it. _The endurance of this creature is stronger than I expected. I need to recalculate my strategy. Hmm…_

"Hamster!" she suddenly shouted. "Give me that 'Sizzle' element you gave Pinky earlier!"

"Alright, alright, Susie, don't get your shoes in a twist now!" After needling his own root, she waddled over to the CEO and did as he was told.

A bit of fire later—which required Susie holding her gun up in the air; she had no idea why she needed to do _that_ first—and her gun became a steaming hot flamethrower. This tree may have been persistent, sure, but at the end of the day, it was still a tree. And trees are allergic to fire. _Adequate,_ she mentally rated. "Thanks for that."

"No problem, mate! If you need anythin' else, don't hesitate to ask one of us three for help!"

The former secretary raised an eyebrow in wary interest. "Don't… hesitate, you say?" _Really?_

"Of course! You may have done some questionable things before, but right now, you're our teammate." He clapped her on the back, his bright grin contrasting immensely with her own steely frown. "And teammates help each other out, always!"

 _"Hey, Rick!"_ Coo's voice echoed from a little distance away. The owl was surrounded by a bunch of roots, all trying to stab at him as he flew about. "I could really use some help here, ya hear me!? Hurry up!"

"Don't worry, mates, I'm comin'!" the hamster shouted back. "Just gimme a minute!" To Susie, he quickly relayed, "So, yeah! Keep that in mind, alrighty? I've got to be a good teammate myself!"

As he went back to assist his fellow Animal Buddies, Susie stared at his back in contemplation. _I'm your teammate, huh…?_

Back at the boss's 'doorstep', so to speak, Parallel Woods was finally forced to spit Bandana Dee and Dark Meta Knight out, following a fiery Hammer Flip. Dee's eyes were swirls, the little guy stumbling about in disorientation. _"Ohhhhhhhh,"_ he groaned, his arms wobbling around as he tried to find his way. "Wh-Why…? Why d-does th-that keep h-happening…?"

Dedede rushed over to his assistant's side, using his sturdy arms to help him keep steady. "Don't worry, Dee," he consoled him, "I've got you!"

He was joined by Ribbon, comfortably sitting on Dee's head. She was trying to help herself, which for some reason involved rubbing Dee's forehead until it presumably got all better. _(At least she's trying,_ Kirby thought.) "Yeah, we're here for you!"

Adeleine was tending to Dark Meta Knight, painting him a slice of cake to heal with. "You don't have to do this for me, you know," he quietly insisted, embarrassed. "It's not like I was in there for so long. I am still perfectly healthy."

"Oh, shut up and take your medicine," she huffed. "I'm not taking any risks!"

On the frontlines, Kirby and Marx—plus Gooey and Daroach—renewed the attack on the EX Boss. The Super Tuff Pink Puff flung his yo-yo all about the place, a trail of flames following its arc, ending off his little combo by 'walking the dog', so to speak. Marx was kicking a volley of explosive balls, Gooey was blinding dashing around the tree's trunk, and Daroach was swinging stars from his Triple Star Rod—a perfect combination against Parallel Woods.

Vicious tornadoes blew from his mouth, swirling through the arena and reaching out through the whole of it. Gooey, being Gooey, was caught off-guard (as off-guard as one such as he could get, anyway), and Marx flew away from the first few—"Ha! Missed me!" he taunted, sticking his tongue out—before getting hit by one specifically aimed at him.

Kirby and Daroach were good enough to do a variety of sidesteps and teleports out of the way, respectively. "My, my," Daroach said, "trying to get rid of us, eh? You're not gonna get away so easily. We're gonna take your twisted heart, in the end."

"What he said, minus the fancy talk," Kirby affirmed, throwing his yo-yo in an orbit. "Just 'cause you're black and yellow and trying to look intimidating doesn't mean a thing with us! Stop trying to compensate for something; it's honestly embarrassing for you and me!" A trio of Gordoes were furiously thrown their way. He nonchalantly hopped over them, as did Daroach. "Maybe get a ribbon or something—'cause alone, your color scheme's ugly, you get me?"

The leaves above shook with fury. Kirby grinned. _There we go._ "Oh, did I touch a nerve there? So sorry!" he sassed. Bunches of purple apples started raining down from the branches above, attempting to directly target him. Their falling arcs were fairly predictable, luckily, with him easily managing to jump away. Kirby's grin became even wider. "Awww—delicious apples? You shouldn't have! Got anything else for little 'ol me?"

And several roots sprouted from the ground and sent him spiraling backward. He landed right in front of King Dedede and Bandana Dee. "Okay!" Kirby pointed a hand up. "That's pretty good, too!"

"Sass the boss some other time, Kirbs," Dedede said to his friend, gripping his hammer hard with the roots closing in on the trio. "I don't think you'll get much mileage out of doing so right now!"

"If you say so," the puffball replied, face still planted on the ground.

The chaotic battle continued, with fire and frenzied slashes going off on one side, and vicious roots and blowing tornadoes spawning on the other. Despite the stationary state of EX Boss, he was more than holding his own against his sixteen different opponents. And his endurance was nothing to scoff at, either. At this point, probably several minutes had passed, and his 'pinch phase', as Kirby liked to put it, hadn't kicked in yet.

"It appears this battle will last quite a long while if we don't pull out anything big," Magolor observed, all the way in the back. A Gordo tried to bounce in behind him; he simply blocked it with a wall of needles.

"You are not wrong," Meta Knight reluctantly agreed. "We'll tire ourselves out at the rate we are going. What do you propose we do?"

"Can we make him drop cherries?" Gooey nonchalantly asked, floating over to the two. His tongue stretched out of his mouth and grabbed onto a falling apple, yanking it into his mouth. "These apples taste kind of weird. Apples shouldn't taste weird. Cherries would be better, I think."

"…such an action would probably not be wise to undertake," Meta Knight replied. "His cherries would likely be as dangerous as his apples."

"Oh." Gooey didn't seem too bothered. "I guess that's okay. Maybe we can ram him, then. Ramming usually works."

Magolor looked considering, visibly thumbing his chin. Slowly, but surely, a virtual light bulb was going off in his head. "Hmm…" he hummed. "Ramming, you say? That gives me an idea."

"An idea, you say?" Meta Knight stated. "Very well. Let us hear it."

Approximately a minute or two later, the Lor Starcutter—okay, a miniature construct of it—shone brightly against the shadowed environment, Magolor hanging on the deck as its 'captain' and Meta Knight and Gooey serving as his shipmates. If this sounds ridiculous to you… that's because it pretty much was. Behind his scarf, Magolor didn't bother to stifle his massive smile. "Okay! Meta Knight! Gooey! Are you ready to set sail!?" he dramatically asked his compatriots, arms wide in the air.

"Aye aye," the blob of Dark Matter dreamily answered.

"Yes," the noble swordsman bluntly relayed. _I'm beginning to have second thoughts about this._ (It was too late to get off this train, though.)

"In that case…! **CHOO CHOO!"** he bellowed. _ **"All aboard the Starcutter Express!**_ **Next destination: PARALLEL WOODS!"**

With that triumphant cry, the aforementioned 'Starcutter Express' promptly took off, running over roots and Gordoes and projectiles of all kinds on its one-way trip to Parallel Woods. Gooey stuck his tongue out in the wind, clearly enjoying himself, and Magolor himself was cheering all the way through.

And Meta Knight… Meta Knight was merely glaring at the enemy ahead, being as no-nonsense as usual. _It was kind of disappointing,_ 'Captain' Magolor mused. _But eh, not my problem._

The other Star Allies stopped their frantic fighting for a moment to stare in awe at the charging construct. It was apparent their resident mage hadn't shown off _all_ he could do yet.

("Wowie!" Marx oohed. "Mags wasn't kidding when he talked about having a little ship like that! Dang, now I want one!"

"…please don't get one," Dark Meta Knight quickly stated. "I tire easily enough of your shenanigans without a vessel for you to traverse."

"That's only more motivation for me then!")

Parallel Woods had just enough time to widen his eyes before the huge flying boat collided with him head-on. It was a majestic scene, one which could only be improved if it was replayed in slow motion. Magolor and co. hopped off the ship as it disappeared into particles of light, watching delightfully (in the former's case) as the enemy tree flinched hard from the impact. "And _that's_ how you arrive in style!" he exclaimed. "Thank you all for riding the Starcutter Express, only the finest in triple deluxe airlines!"

"…I'm jealous now," Dedede admitted. "Really jealous."

"…I want to be able to do that!" Coo declared, after having a moment to take it all in. "Gimme a rocket or something, I'm sure I can do just as good!"

"You don't even know how to drive, Coo…" Kine sighed.

"I must admit: that was an impressive approach," Daroach complimented, an impressed look on his face. "But we're not out of the frying pan, as I'm sure you can tell." At his words, the sixteen Star Allies turned back to look at the halfway-done EX Boss, who looked even more pissed off than before. The thief-slash-seeker-of-treasure narrowed his eyes. "He's got a fire brewing underneath us, that's for sure."

* * *

 **[Meta Knight]**

 _Phase one is done. Phase two… is about to begin._

Parallel Woods, as he is reportedly named, seemed remarkably agitated by our persistent efforts to give him no quarter in this realm. Compared to his counterparts in Whispy Woods and Yggy Woods, this EX Boss has proven himself much more hostile—and much more dangerous. The influence of Another Dimension is certainly nothing to scoff at.

And to think, the Sphere Doomers from seven years ago was only a simple taste of its deadly force…

The unholy incarnation of a tree jumped up out of the ground and slammed into the middle of the arena, sending us flying backward from the shockwave it created. _T-Tch…! Now he reveals his true power…!_ Unfortunately, this meant we were now split us off into two factions, and the tree soon enlarged to the point where crossing the new barrier would be an impossible task. The group on my side of the arena consisted of myself, my mirror counterpart, the Animal Trio, Taranza, Daroach, and Bandana Dee. It would have to do.

I took charge, glancing back at the crowd behind me, all bringing themselves back up from the floor. "Star Allies! Don't let your guard down!" I barked, all the practice from being leader of the Meta-Knights coming back to me like second nature. "Our foe may seem unapproachable, but I can assure you, he is anything but! Keep your wits about you and keep on the move!"

"Gotcha, Meta Knight!" was the multi-directed reply I received back. Say what you will about the individuals that made up our makeshift team, they know— _we_ know—when it's time to get serious and pay attention.

And that time is now.

I aimed my blade directly at Parallel Woods, as did everyone else with their own respective weapons – and, unsurprisingly, he took offense. Suddenly, from the ground, creatures that I could only describe as being young Whispy Woods grew in front of my eyes, as black and yellow-eyed as the being that spawned it. _Summoning minions? Do you honestly believe this will get the better of us?_

 _You can try._

The collective eight junior trees dragged their roots forward, and we, just as determined, charged forth with our own resolve – and so, we engaged in combat. The one I faced started by trying to squash me flat; I dissuaded him of that notion with an upward stab from Galaxia. I took the opportunity then to engage in an aerial combo, swishing and slashing and burrowing him back to the ground he came from.

The leaves and branches, formed from the enlarged Parallel Woods, began to violently shake—again, in a manner reminiscent of his two predecessors—resulting in the production of various purple apples, even more so than before, dropping down in swarms like a flood over a city. I took to the skies and hacked at the apples, slicing a fair number of fruit in half and allowing my allies to better fight unhindered by these distractions. I was joined by my mirror counterpart—Dark Meta Knight—in this endeavor, his prowess with his dark Galaxia showing itself splendidly. We looked at each other and nodded in unison.

You may or may not recall that Dark Meta Knight, once upon a time, had defeated and imprisoned me within the Mirror World, when I went to investigate its mysterious appearance. Then, he was nothing more than an utterly pragmatic, unchivalrous warrior in the service of Dark Mind – though there were hints that that last part was not by his own will. And aside from a brief resurfacing when Dedede made his trek up the Dreamstalk, he hadn't been seen again, until he was summoned by Kirby in the Dream Palace.

His appearance had been enough to force me and Marx to call a truce on our then-active feud, in order to deal with the mirror knight's aggressiveness. In time though, we came to know Dark Meta Knight as a lost and lonely individual, putting up a persona of 'edginess' and viciousness in order to hide it. And despite my initial reluctance… we became something akin to comrades. I may not be as close to him as Adeleine and Ribbon are, but that doesn't give our 'friendship' any less meaning.

And to think, it was all because Kirby saw a friend, deep within his darkened heart…

We continued our assault against the food menace – how I wish such absurd statements weren't so commonplace nowadays – until a horde of Blados was dropped on us, forcing us to deflect _them_ instead.

The Parallel Woods Jr. grabbed the Blados with their roots, once the glorified Gordos were on the floor, and threw them back at us. Akin to what Link and Ganondorf often end up doing, Dark Meta Knight and I had an improvised tennis match with our two opponents. In sync, we shot the Blados back at the Jr. Woods again and again, the four of us locked in a tense standoff.

 _SLICE!_

 _FLING!_

 _SLICE!_

 _FLING!_

 _SLICE!_

 _FLING!_

…not the most exciting of events, I will admit.

Eventually though, they were overwhelmed—there's only so much one can concentrate on a single action, after all—and, they soon became nothing more than stars in the air.

There was no time to rest, however. There was much that needed to be done. Still flapping our wings, we swerved through the air and prepared to bring the fight directly to Parallel Woods—only to find that he was ready for us.

Like he did before, the giant tree leaped from the ground, up a fair height… and started arcing in a way that we would be the ones he would stomp on. Startled, we diverged from our flight paths and narrowly avoided our fates—but he wasn't satisfied, not by any stretch of the imagination. Rather than just settle for a single jump, he elected to perform multiple quick ones in a row. His mass was so huge that dodging him was nothing extravagantly easy – and down below, he was even squashing several of our teammates, and it shouldn't come as any surprise to hear that getting slammed by the equivalent of a Thwomp is… extraordinarily painful.

There's a reason we're careful not to get crushed by the environment on our ventures.

That wasn't the only thing he had on hand, though. A large number of yellow fruit were dropping from his bushes of leaves—and much to my displeasure, these ones had the 'small' side-effect of happening to _explode_ upon contact. We tried to batter them away, as we did with the Blados—but trying to accomplish that while simultaneously dealing with Parallel Woods' schizophrenic jumping was… complex to pull off.

And by that, I mean we were unable to fully do so.

…even experienced knights such as we (as much as that term can be applied to my doppelganger) are hard-pressed to escape _everything_ unscathed.

"Watch out!" Dark Meta Knight tried to warn me—but it was too late. A batch of golden fruit dropped into our flight range, too fast for us to dodge or react—and the resulting explosions sent us tumbling out of the sky and into the ground. I grunted frustratedly as the dust cleared around us. "Accursed tree…!" I swore. "We can't fall here…!" We accumulated a fair number of injuries from that blow; I can barely lift my sword up to defend myself.

Dark Meta Knight wasn't faring much better. He tried to get his mirror shard clone technique working, and I could see the shards flickering in and out behind him—but he didn't appear to have enough power to sustain it. _"No!"_ he growled. "I can't…! The mirror, it won't…!" That… didn't bode well.

One final stomp cued me in to the large tree now in front of us. To his sides were a few summoned minions, different from the previous selection: a Burning Leo, a Chilly, a Driblee, and a Como. And in our weakened states, we weren't going to be lasting very long under their assault.

"…well, if I may be crass for a moment," my counterpart vocalized, "this… is going to suck. Very much."

"I can see that," I said. This was going to be a quite unpleasant experience. "If I may say something myself…" I glanced directly into his eyes. "I am honored to have been your comrade-in-arms, fighting against this blasted tree and his folk." I never thought I'd be saying something so sentimental, when we're about to be killed by a tree, of all the creatures – but it's not like we can pick where and when such events occur.

"…so am I." With that resolution between us, we looked up to our doom—once more brandishing his roots like swords, his minions walking closer and closer to us. We closed our eyes, grit our teeth, and braced ourselves for the impact.

…

…

…but it never came.

"…what?"

I reopened my eyes—and saw Kirby, King Dedede, and Bandana Dee holding back our foes: King Dedede in the front, clashing against Parallel Woods' roots; Kirby and Bandana Dee on the sides, taking out the other four with yo-yo and spear in hand, respectively. I allowed my face a recourse of astonishment, and I could see that Dark Meta Knight was feeling the same way.

"Hey, Meta Knights—you're not allowed to go dying on me now!" King Dedede declared, a cocky grin on his lovable face. With a mighty swing from his hammer, the conflicting roots fell limp to the ground, with Parallel Woods noticeably wincing from the pain. "And there's no way I'll let some oversized Whispy Woods clone be the one to do the job, either!"

"Y-Y-You guys are a b-bit tired, right?" Bandana Dee—Dedede's faithful assistant—babbled out quickly. "Th-Then we'll buy some time for you! J-Just l-l-let us handle this; Great King and Kirby know what they're doing!"

"You heard 'em!" Kirby threw in his own response. "You two are my friends – and come hell or high water, there's not a thing that'll prevent me from helping you guys out whenever I can! 'Sides… I thought you two were stronger than that." The smile he gave the two of us, with his sparkling blue eyes and confidence glimmering throughout… I truly, honestly believed in the words he was saying. He flipped back around to face Parallel Woods. Somehow, he was able to make wielding a yo-yo look dignified. "Dedede, Dee, let's show this guy a thing or two about friendship!"

" _ **YEAH!"**_

Watching them rush in, unhesitating in protecting us through thick and thin… I allowed myself a smile of my own.I'd almost forgotten the real reason I've made it this far, through all the years I've been living in Dream Land. My, shall I say it… **best friends**.

Bandana Dee, a loyal companion – though nervous and seemingly always stuttering, his compassion has always stayed the course. There is no group quest I'd have without seeing his face, joyous in our journeys and with relief in the escape of danger; he makes it hard to definitively hate any part of an adventure.

King Dedede, the regent of Dream Land – in the decade that has transpired since his last serious duel with Kirby, he was grown leaps and bounds into his role as a kind king. Stubborn and endlessly protective of those he cares about, his hammer has often paved our paths in the collectible-hunting and boss-battling we do, and his voice as our partner – sympathetic and uplifting to hear – is one I'll always treasure.

Kirby, the heroic savior of the Gamble Galaxy – there's nary a single person he can meet, barring final bosses, who he can't befriend in some shape or fashion. Swords, cutters, katanas, hammers—he'll wield it all, and he'll do it with a sass few can match, even in this day and age. Through a paradoxical combination of empathy and snarky determination, you'll discover the great number of things which he is capable of – and this light, shining brightly through the stars, will refuse to let others burn out, no matter what it takes.

These three… throughout my lengthy history, I have never met anyone else who I'd rather have by my side. And they've helped me change, too.

There was a time where I was nothing more than a bystander, testing Kirby as he himself came into his own, mostly detached from the world around me—to the point where I even saw fit to attempt a rude takeover of Dream Land, due to my inability to see the _people,_ as it were, like Kirby could so easily do.

But by staying persistent despite everything, Kirby managed to worm his way into my cold, steely heart. Dedede and Bandana Dee, as well. Their easygoing natures have grown on me over time—and don't tell anyone, but I do, in fact, have a sense of humor through their hard efforts. I've learned the true value of friendship, thanks to them – and it's never failed to empower me since. (And I've never failed to empower _them.)_ Knights can't always duke it out alone – and as Kirby said once to me, 'There's always room for smiles in everyone's trials.'

"Hmph," Dark Meta Knight shook his head, in an affectionate manner. "I should have known our friends would end up doing something like this." He shook his head. "I suppose you and I will remain partnered up for quite a while longer."

"Fine by me," I replied. "We have to keep everyone in check, after all. NOVA knows how long they'd last without us."

"True enough. I wouldn't wish that jester on anyone else. _Especially not Maki,"_ he muttered that last part to himself.

I looked back to our trio of saviors, slowly but surely beating back Parallel Woods through their combined might—with our other Star Allies joining them in their conquest as he proved unable to counter.

 _You see this, Jambandra Cult?_ I thought. _Don't think your endeavors will keep us down for very long. We'll rise up again, empowered by our each and every one of our hearts._

 _You may seek to become a threat – but we'll show you just how big of a mistake that is._

 _That is a promise I'm willing to make._

* * *

 **[N/A]**

At last – after a long and grueling battle, neither side of the fray letting up, the tension stretching on for almost an eternity – the final blow had been struck. Parallel Woods had just enough time to wince, blinking an eye closed, before he began to dramatically decrease in size back to his original standing, starlit explosions of various colors going off around him. A tired slouch, accompanied by a frown and a familiar teardrop and subsequently followed by one final explosion, finally indicated that the first EX Boss had been vanquished.

Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Bandana Dee, and the other twelve Star Allies stood there, weapons still in hand, for several seconds more after this. One by one, starting with Kirby, the crew lowered them and returned to their normal stances. A relieved smile popped up on the pink puffball's face first. "We did it!" he exclaimed, bringing his arms to the sky.

" _ **We did it!"**_ everyone else cheered alongside him—and then summarily dropped to the ground, trying to catch their breath.

"W-Wow," Adeleine panted, summoning her canvas to lean on. "I—I don't think… I've ever been… in such a difficult fight before…! It's—It's s-something else…!"

"You can say that again," Taranza groaned, his voice muffled by the fact that he was laying face down on the floor. "If th-this is what it's gonna be like… then I hope we'll get a long, _long_ rest a-after this."

"What," Rick chuckled, "you sayin' this doesn't count? We're gonna be screwed then, mate."

A wave of subdued laughter made its way through the crowd of Star Allies. _This is what life should be,_ Kirby mused, eyes drawn to each and every teammate that formed his squad. _Smiles and laughter and bright times, with all of my friends. This—everything about this—is what I_ _ **live**_ _for, whenever I wake up in the morning, every day of my life._

 _And if the world seeks to have things go differently, then I'll push back against it as hard as I can. I'll fight to keep it going for as long as possible, because there's always a joy to be found in sharing such experiences with each other._

…' _Lil Kirbs and Kaede would agree with me, I know that._

A pink sheen drew Kirby's attention away from his friends. "Huh?" Everyone else's gaze was drawn toward it, too, thanks to its appearance: from the bushes of leaves attached to Parallel Woods came a long and pink, heart-tipped spear, emanating with a florescent pink aura, floating in the air as transcendent as the dimension it came from.

"Shiny," Gooey drooled.

"Surprising," Daroach noted, an eyebrow raised.

Dedede narrowed his eyes. "Hey," he drawled, a realization coming to his mind, "isn't that…"

"…o-one of th-the **Heart** S- **Spears**?" Bandana Dee finished for him. "Th-The things that g-gave us the Star Allies Sparkler?"

"Yeah," Kirby confirmed. _One of the weapons—wielded by the four heroes of legend—that sealed away Void Termina so long ago._ "…it shouldn't be here. Not at all."

Susie looked pondering, her intellectual mind going to work. "First the thirty Friend Hearts that were hidden within this dimension, and now the Heart Spears from centuries long gone…" she listed. "There is something going on behind the scenes that necessitates we have both these sets of artifacts. Something in relation to the 'cult' that presumably summoned this dimension back into our world… That much is easy to decipher."

"W-Well, when you put it that way," Kine said, "it's… kind of foreboding. Enough to make me a little nervous, actually…"

Kirby jumped and grabbed the Heart Spear out of the air, the spherical aura breaking immediately as he did. He looked at the ancient artifact with an ambivalent expression on his face. "Hmm…" It glowed so brightly, it was almost blinding. He dropped it into his hammerspace, showcased by it disappearing into particles of light. "It doesn't matter why it's here," he concluded. "If it's the clue to ending this crisis, then all the better we get 'em."

Dedede shrugged. "If that's what you think, then I won't question you on it."

The puffball then got a contemplative look on his face. "We're at the end of the first road, and we've got our first Plot Coupon." He beamed. "You know what that calls for!"

The other Star Allies all looked at each other—and they knew in their hearts what it was he was talking about. Their smiles grew wider as well.

(And so, as had been tradition for a long, long time—they danced. They danced, they danced, they _danced._

And it was worth it.)

* * *

Elsewhere, in Another Dimension…

 _Elements sailed rapidly through the air. Francisca grit her teeth as she swung her labrys around and around, a trail of ice following its crescent arc. "What are these foes…!?" she grounded out, her axe clashing with an unusually tough Bonkers' hammer. "None of the troops back at base have this sort of strength!" It was a testament to her and her sisters' status as Generals of the Jambandra Cult that they weren't immediately overwhelmed by the onslaught._

 _Though, on that note, Flamberge wasn't having any better luck than she. She was up against a pair of King Doos, and was barely fending off the two with four different fiery swords sprouting from the ground. "I told you this was a bad idea, Zan!" she shouted. "Going further, even for Lord Hyness, is more liable to be a danger to_ our _health than his!"_

 _Close by, Zan Partizanne's skills with her spear were as good as ever. Her blade practically danced around and through the golden Gigant Edge—though there was a far more aggressive edge than would normally be expected of her. "Keep fighting!" she barked back. "This is_ nothing _compared to what we've been through before!" Charging her partisan with electricity, she thrust it through the mid-boss in front of her, sending it hurtling backward through the air. "Whatever it takes, I_ will _assist Lord Hyness!"_

" _Surely—"_ CLASH! _"—there has to—"_ CLASH! _"—be better ways to—"_ CLASH! _"—help him out… than this…!" Francisca stated, her foe pushing against her weapon in a rather forceful way. "We—We can't just—!" Her statement went unfinished, however—for she was soon overwhelmed, with her labrys flying out of her hands, and she herself ending up on the floor, utterly defenseless._

 _Her red-headed twin screamed._ _ **"FRANNY!"**_

 _BA-DUMP!_

 _Time seemed to slow down. Flamberge watched in horror as the EX Bonkers approached_ fast— _with she being too far away to assist her fallen sibling_. This can't be happening, _she thought._ This **can't be happening.**

 _BA-DUMP!_

 _The hammer was about to be dropped, large and looking in charge, and she couldn't let Francisca get hurt now, because she was her_ sister _NOVA damn it, and here in this dimension where everything hit like a tank, the three Mage-Sisters Zan needed to do her best to protect each other and her face, her sweet and joyous face was getting frightened and frightened and_ she couldn't let it be there **and she had to DO SOMETHING—!**

 _ **BA-DUMP!**_

 _Without thinking, Flamberge shot her flamberge forward—and it_ soared _at a pace far,_ far _faster than it normally would, wrapped in a tornado of violet-black flame—_

— _and before the two of them knew it, the Bonkers had been blasted away, tumbling a long distance painfully to the ground, where he later laid still; unconscious. Purple sparks happened to remain on Flamberge's hand, and she looked at it with no small amount of horror—before simply shaking her head and running over to her sister. (There were more important things to worry about, after all.)_

" _F-Franny! Are—Are you okay!?" The Blazing General quickly helped her icy sibling up, concerned written all over her face, replacing any semblance of stubborn determination. "Y-You're—You're not hurt too bad, a-are you!?"_

" _I'm fine!" Francisca answered, panting heavily. "I'm—I'm fine. B-But…" She bit her lip. "Wh-What about_ you? _What_ was _that…?"_

" _I…" Flamberge couldn't answer. She didn't know_ how _to answer that. "I, I can't—"_

 _And then storms of violet lightning struck all around the two, startling them from their thoughts – and much to their shock, the two King Doos—whom Flamberge had entirely forgotten about—lay twitching on the floor behind them, their ambush abruptly thwarted before it could be completed._

" _Are you just going to sit down and let them walk all over you?"_

 _The two siblings turned back to their elder. Zan Partizanne was staring at them harshly, her partisan sparkling with an electrifying darkness. Her skin, alarmingly enough, was darkening in color, the opposite effect being applied to her clothes. She spoke in a hard, clipped voice. "Lord Hyness needs us. He won't appreciate any sort of weakness." She glared nightmarishly. "Pick up your weapons and fight. Whatever it takes, they_ won't _get in our way."_

" _Z-Z-Zan…" Francisca stammered. "Wh-Wha—"_

" _Don't lag behind." She turned around and walked forward, deeper into the depths of Another Dimension – and somehow, it felt like the distance between them had exponentially increased, in a way that couldn't be traversed. Tears threatened to fall from Francisca's eyes._ Zan… What's **happening** to you…?

 _And Flamberge… Flamberge just stood there—and looked at her hands, a distraught feeling welling up inside of her. "Th-That power…" she whispered. "Do… Do I have it too? Does it belong to_ both _of us…?"_

 _A silence passed. A dark, unsettling silence. The only things they could do from there was pick up their labrys and flamberge and keep moving – but thoughts continued to run through their mind._ Are… Are we really doing the right thing…?

… _who could say?_

 _(Meanwhile, deep, deep inside of her—of_ them _—a spark; the spark of darkness, formed from both Lord Hyness and Void Termina, resting inside their souls stirred up at last._

 _And little did they know…_

 _Once they started using it, there wouldn't be any going back._

 _This was a fact… Zan knew well.)_

* * *

 **And that's one dimension down, and three more to go. Well, four, in the case of the final bosses' locale.**

 **Dear Galactic NOVA, this took** _ **for-freaking-ever.**_ **I'm really sorry for the long wait, guys! This was** _ **supposed**_ **to come out earlier… but then** _ **Kingdom Hearts III**_ **finally came out and ate everything up all my free time** _ **(with the power of**_ _DARKNESS!_ _ **)**_ **.**

 **The previous chapter was supposed to have an additional Dream Friend introspection – but I felt it'd disrupt the chapter's flow, so I put it in here instead. I want to have perspectives for all fifteen of Kirby's main allies (and himself, eventually), so things are gonna get pretty long from here on out – even more than they already are. It'll take a while to produce updates, especially given my wonky motivation, but the wait each time should be worth it.**

 **The way I'm going to be adapting** _ **Heroes'**_ **levels is that I'll be showing snippets from them, utilizing various combinations of the different Dream Friends and Helpers to create as interesting a scene as possible. As you can no doubt tell, I** _ **love**_ **writing interactions between characters – a trait that has followed me through my other fandoms as well – and I hope this benefits this fic as much as possible.**

 **From here on, each chapter will end with a Parallel boss fight, much like how each dimension did in the original game. Writing out sixteen characters against one singular boss will be a difficult challenge – but I'm all for it if it means I can make these battles even better than they already were! And just as rough, too—Parallel Woods is surprisingly difficult for being an EX Whispy Woods! Sheesh! Here I thought Clanky Woods 2.0 was the most difficult they could get…**

 **I'll be redoing the boss descriptions to better fit the narrative of this fic, by the way. Some of the original ones were kind of… weird and non-explanatory, and they didn't exactly help explain** _ **Heroes'**_ **plot and background very well (also, something about Dedede giving a Jamba Heart to Hyness,** _ **what is that even—!?),**_ **so I'll be doing my best to pick up the slack from there! I like me a bit of consistency in my lore, so that's what I'm gonna do!**

 **Side note, since I've never really clarified it before: Adeleine, Ribbon, Dark Meta, Daroach, and Marx were the main Star Allies doing the** Guest Star **campaign, with the former two acting as leaders. What can I say, they're my favorite characters. Who** _ **can't**_ **love their smiles? Maybe sometime, I'll write a side-fic about their little adventure together** **—now** ** _that'd_ be interesting.**

 **Well, that's all for now – tune in next time when we move onto the second dimension (and the other Wave 1 Dream Friends)! See you then!**


	4. If You're Here, I'll Be Fine

**Star Allies, Unite!**

 _ **Chapter 4  
**_ _If You're Here, I'll Be Fine_

(Uploaded on June 20, 2019)

* * *

 **Summary:** The first Parallel Boss has been vanquished, and the first Heart Spear has been obtained. The Star Allies have completed one dimension – but three more remain to traverse, each coming with their own set of puzzles and peril. Rick, Kine, Coo, Marx, and Gooey—the second-eldest squadron of the Star Allies—have their own battle to face, now.

(And that's not all: sure, they're staving off Another Dimension's encroachment on reality… but if that's the case, then what's going on with the Divine Terminus's appearance…?)

 **Notes:** This chapter covers all of _Heroes'_ second level, **Dimension II**. There are heavy implications of depression and suicide ahead, so be warned.

(Might wanna pack a snack and a drink for this, too. This chapter's long as all heck…)

* * *

 _Lightning flashed through the darkened sky, followed summarily by the loud, booming sounds of thunder – both of which did nothing to relieve the world of the ominous, turbulent atmosphere that Gabbel Moon currently had. Combine that with a harsh rainstorm that would leave anyone soaked, regardless of what clothes they wore or what umbrella they had over them, and here was yet another candidate for 'the worst weather conditions in the galaxy'. Under normal circumstances, no one would consider even walking out of their front door into this terrible, terrible weather—_

 _And yet, one girl didn't seem to care._

 _Clothes dirtied and tattered, hair unkempt and frazzled, eyes tired and welling up with tears—this girl was clearly on the end of her rope, and one could see an aura of desperation emanating from her entire being. She trudged through the stone pathway, an arm up to shield her eyes from the storm, barely even flinching at the torrent battering at her. And then, she came to a stop, and looked up._

 _A tall tower gloomily stood raised before her, a winding set of stairs wrapped around a solid tube; the stairs, it must be noted, were looking extremely treacherous to traverse, thanks to the lack of a fence or any sort of structure holding them up. It was likely—no, absolutely certain that there was nothing of any worth up there, that anyone who attempted this climb would find their efforts utterly futile._

…there's nothing left for me to do, _she thought,_ but… put an end to this.

 _The girl stood and stared into the sky for a good long while, as if she were silently contemplating the events in her life that had led her thus far to this conclusion. And then, without any further hesitation, she took her first step forward, toward the fate that she knew was coming._

 _(The fate that had been coming for quite some time now.)_

 _At first, it was a slow walk, her gait cautious in contrast to her resolution – but before too long, it had blossomed into a full-on sprint up the spiraling tower. This was it – this was the final stretch._

 _One would question why someone like her was so stained and sore and scratched; why she was lost and companionless—and most frightening, filled to the brim with despair._

… _well._

 _Put simply: everything she knew—everything she had cherished, held so close to her heart—had disappeared not too long ago; been tossed aside to the wind to the point where she could no longer feel their presence. Her father, her younger twin sisters, her home… they had all—just—_ _ **disappeared.**_ _They couldn't lift her up whenever she felt down; they couldn't frolic and laugh and be happy together._

 _Once upon a time, these aforementioned elements made up her whole life: the four of them traveled throughout the Gamble Galaxy, scavenging whatever they could, exploring the cosmos beyond, and generally living a nomadic existence. Sure, the starship she and her family used was not exactly the best around, and their life couldn't at all be described as 'luxurious' in any way—but she was happy, and that was all she needed._

 _That was all she ever wanted._

 _It didn't matter what elected to stand in her way of her own contentment; it didn't matter that half the time she was too exhausted to even drag herself out of bed, much to her father's worry. All the dark whispers and uncomfortable images that wanted to creep into her mind—the times spent with her family could washed them all away, letting the rainclouds in her head open up and let in that wonderful sunlight._

 _But now, all of that had changed. In an instant, her comfortable reality had been uprooted from its place, and now she was here, on a satellite too remote for anyone to know she was here, and too far from any system of planets which she was actually unacquainted with. And that wasn't the worst part._

 _Her support base had completely fallen apart in the ensuing chaos._

 _Her father? Gone, in a sacrifice meant to protect his children._

 _Her home? Destroyed, in an attack she didn't know the cause of._

 _Her sisters? Missing, somewhere far off and unlocatable under her own power._

 _She was alone now, in a cruel world unsympathetic to her misery._

 _And all that remained… were her tears._

I… I have to keep going. I have to get up there. I have to reach the top.

Because… I can't keep going on like this. I can't keep believing when there's no hope to be found.

(…I **can't.** )

 _Footsteps echoed from the unsteady ground in rapid succession as the girl rushed up the tower as fast as she could. Raindrops splattered constantly against her exposed skin, agitating her bruises to a nearly unbearable extent, and it didn't help that a particularly strong wind threatened to blow her off at any opportunity. More than once, she nearly slipped and stumbled off the precarious cliff_ _(and a part of her_ wanted _to let herself go, because honestly—what was the point…?_ **It was more than she deserved for failing her duty to her siblings** ) _—but she managed to stay the course and kept ascending the thin staircase._

 _Lightning streaked down from the sky. Thunder rumbled from every direction. The storm got worse and worse as seconds turned to minutes turned to a half-hour at the most, becoming a torrential downpour unceasing in its emergence._

 _The girl continued on anyway, almost oblivious to the raging devastation about her._

 _The stretch upward seemed to last an eternity. Every step onward seemed to lead absolutely nowhere, further accentuating that belief._

 _The girl trekked on in spite of that, forcing herself to go and give it her all to make it to the top, by any means necessary. It didn't matter what stood in her way; she_ would _reach that summit._

 _What followed was a practical hurricane, in her eyes._

 _Another step up the stairs—_

 _The wind howled past her ears—_

 _A memory flashed back—_

 _Her father yelling at his children to run—_

 _Herself holding onto her siblings' hands tightly, running away from the disaster at the same pace she was going now—_

 _(And yet, it was all for naught anyway…!)—_

 _She shook her head—"Don't think about them, j-just keep going—"_

 _Was she halfway up? Three-quarters? Not even a quarter?—_

 _The way ahead was getting darker, harder to see—_

 _Instinct was all that was pushing her forward at this point; her feet barely able to step on the narrow stone walkways—_

It has to be enough, **it has to be enough—**

 _And then._

 _And then, and then, and then,_ and then—

 _She made it._

 _The last of the steps had been conquered, and after what seemed like a long delay, the girl stood above them all, panting heavily as she felt the weight of several pattering raindrops dripping off her back. She slouched over for a bit, her energy reserves nearly depleted from the effort it took to arrive. But that fact didn't diminish the bittersweet relief that flourished throughout her young, yet worn body. Finally, her trials were over. Finally, the arduous days she had led could be a thing of the past._

 _Finally, she could be with her sisters again._

"… _this is it," she said to herself, determinedly. "This is it."_

 _The top of the tower was not very interesting, despite the tempest that was currently surrounding it: it was a circular arena of sorts, fenced off by a pattern of elevated and unelevated stone blocks – tall enough to allow no accidental falls by any would-be visitors… but also short enough that anyone could climb over it—_ _and set their fates in stone, so to speak_ _._

 _Slowly and shakily, the exhausted girl made her way from the stairs to the other side of the roof, and then—with her hands touching the rim of the hard fencing—she brought her gaze downward and facing the ground. Notably, it looked as though the drop below was a very,_ very _steep one; the rocky pathway which she had traversed earlier couldn't even be seen from such a height anymore. It would be enough to make any sane person gulp and think twice about what they were staring at – but she wasn't able to have any of those indulgences on hand, unfortunately._

 _Closing her eyes briefly and taking in a deep breath, the girl lifted her leg—and placed her foot on the pedestal above her. In just a couple of seconds, she was standing precariously on her two feet on the platform, certain doom less than a few inches away._

 **Go on,** _that ever present and familiar voice murmured into her ear, placing a sinister, compulsive effect on her already addled brain._ **Take the leap. There's nothing more to greet you if you stay in this realm. The burden of living—of constantly taking away time from the lives who** **actually** **matter—will no longer have to be your worry.**

 **This is what your family would like you to do—and after all… if they're smiling upon you up in heaven… wouldn't you like to join them, and be free of the torment that haunts you forevermore?** _(Unstated was the fact that it was_ this _voice which was the 'torment' that refused to leave its residence inside her thoughts.)_ **All you have to do… is be willing to act.**

 **There won't be any more pain. There won't be any more suffering.**

 **Go on. Take the leap… and at last—**

 _ **Reach out to your freedom, with your own two hands.**_

"… _no more pain," she repeated tearfully, "no more suffering. I-I'll be—I'll be… f-f-_ _ **free.**_ _" She sniffed hard as she composed the final words she wanted to say on this moon. "E-Everyone, I'm—I'm—" She choked back a sob as she struggled to keep her entire body from vibrating erratically. "I'm s-sorry I couldn't do anything to—to protect you, like I—I p-promised you. B-But—I won't fail you again. I won't let my w-worthless self… hinder you, or this b-beautiful world any longer._

"… _s-so… g-goodbye. Goodbye, Gamble Galaxy. I'm going… going to a better place now."_

 _It wasn't as if hopping off this clifftop wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. It would certainly be a simpler death than anything else she could've come up with._

 _And besides—people always said that 'it's not the fall that kills you.' If that was true… then she wouldn't even get to feel the impact._

 _Wouldn't that be a kind exit, after all that had occurred in her short life?_

 _She was here, all prepared to raise her foot and send herself careening down, down, to a place that she_ knew _would grant her the wishes she desired—_

 _But alas, chance had a way of fatally wounding even the noblest of actions._

 _Just as she began to do it, the sky flashed white once more, something seemingly noticeably_ wrong _as it did, and the girl had barely enough time to spin around mid-walk and see a sparkling white_ thing _arcing straight toward her—_

 _(And if she was looking at things right, there was something up in the clouds where the bolt came from, seeming to glare at her with this one eye)—_

 _And then, all the girl knew…_

… _was_ _ **pain**_ _and absolute_ _ **suffering.**_

" **AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

 _An ear-splitting shriek hit the sky, its octaves far higher than most people could expected to produce on a regular basis—and sounding incredibly_ _ **agonized**_ _beyond anything anyone that could come into a person's imagination. Several thousand—if not_ more— _volts coursed throughout her weak, fragile body, a sharp and very persistent torture that felt like it was punching into every weak spot within her internal system. Her limbs became limp and unmoving, her body charred and broken, her mind nearly fractured by this last stroke of bad luck—_

— _and as the electrifying bolt finally dissipated, her whole self, where it was briefly suspended in midair… tumbled from the rooftops—and into the great void below._

 _Time seemed to slow as her form fell through the sky—and as battered and bruised her mind was, and as her nerves continued to ache and strain in suffering… the girl began to contemplate her life thus far, as both her consciousness and her breathing gradually faded away to nothingness._

Is this… Is this a cruel joke…? _she internally wheezed, unable to comprehend reality as she knew it._ Was my life… nothing more than someone's plaything…? A toy… for the gods' amusement…?

Ha ha ha— _Ha ha ha ha…_ Of course.

Of course… it was.

There can't be any other answer.

Why else… would they let me get my hopes up… only to further grind them into dust… as they flutter about in the wind…?

That's why… I can't even have a peaceful end.

That's why… I'm dying alone, in pain, at this young age.

That's why… I'm here on this blasted moon to begin with.

 _It was like the worst of nightmares, all her most twisted, most devastating dreams made manifest; an unwelcome truth she once would've tried so hard to deny. Fate just had it out for her—and that was that. There was nothing more to it._

Dad… Franny… Berge…

I… I wish I wasn't so far from you, as I am right now.

If you could see me… wherever you are… what would you think of me? Would you be disgusted with me? Pity me, empathize with me?

Well… whatever your answer is… I'll be coming to see you again, soon enough.

We won't have to suffer, we won't have to grieve—it'll just be you and me, together again.

That's… what I've always wanted…

That's… all…

 _With one last tear dropping from her eye, and her soon-to-be corpse having fallen halfway down the tower, Zan Partizanne, eldest sibling to a sibling team of three and a long-tormented soul… breathed—her—last…_

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

… _but then…_

* * *

" _M-M-Mr. Hyness! I—I can see Zan, over there! She's—she's_ falling!"

" _Wh-Wh-Wh-_ WHAT!? _Zan's is—H-HUH!? F-Franny, we—we have to—!"_

" _Do not worry, little girls! We shall rescue her, you have my word!"_

" _B-But—we're too far away! At the rate we're going, we won't make it in time!"_

" _Do not fear! If I use my magic, there is mapop that I can reach her! But I will need a strong boost if I can do it!"_

" _You want_ us _to lift_ _you—_ and _throw you!?_ _We're—We're just_ **kids!** _Are you NUTS, Mr. Hyness!?"_

" _Your enhanced powers should allow you to give me the velocity I need! Though you two are untrained, if you will it to be possible, then it should be enough! But we must act quickly!"_

" _We don't have time, Berge! If we work together, then Mr. Hyness will be able to save Zan! We can't afford to argue now!"_

" _A-Alright, fine! If it's for Zan, I'll do it! HUUUUAHHHHH—!"_

 _(Something was thrown—something that seemed to fly with the paradoxical combination of water and fire.)_

" _Zan Par! Can you hear me? I am coming! Please, return your bastion to us…!"_

" _Is he gonna make it!?_ Is he gonna make it…!?"

" _B-B-Berge! Look! H-He's…!"_

* * *

…

…

…

…

Wh-Where…

Where **am** I…?

Am… Am I…

…am I **alive…?**

 _At a sedate pace, Zan's eyes fluttered open, her weary demeanor clear to see in her empty gaze. The soft dripping of raindrops resounded against her skin as a cloudy, dark grey sky greeted her sight._

…how is this… possible? _she thought._ I was… I was struck by lightning. I—I fell off the tower. I shouldn't **be** here; I should be **dead** —dead and with my family again, away from this twisted world. So why…!?

Why am I still…!?

" _Oh, jamanke the Void! You are alive! So jhappy! So jhappy vun!"_

 _It was then that the girl noticed that she wasn't lying on the floor, as had been her first impression – she was actually being carried by someone in their arms._ Huh…? But who…? _She tilted her head to her side, and couldn't do much else but stare at the crazy-eyed, robe-wearing individual with a rather relieved look on his face. "Ah, japologa. I must not be what you were expecting, yes?" Even his way of_ speaking _was a little more unorthodox than the norm._

" _Wh-Who… Who are you…?" Zan quietly asked, her voice nothing more than a worn-out whisper. "Wh-Why did you…?"_ '…save me', _went unsaid._

 _The stranger smiled. "Bonjam. My name is Hyness, an officiant of the gods above. I am but a simple traveler, helping out others whenever I am in needed, in service of the deities that granted this galaxy life. I saw the turmoil you were going through—and even if I had not gained a new mission as of recently, I could not sit by and allow you to die so cruelly."_

 _There were… still people… willing to a lend a hand, out of the kindness of their own heart?_

 _That was… that was_ nice, _but… "…what was the point, though?" she dejectedly mumbled. "I've got nothing to tie me to this world anymore. My home's destroyed. My father's gone. My sisters aren't here, either. I'm the only person left." She sunk further into Hyness's arms. "I don't deserve to live. I don't_ want _to live. I get that you were trying to help, but… all you did was make everything worse." She didn't know_ how _he managed to heal her, but honestly, it didn't matter. "…what use is there in living without purpose?"_

" _I dare say your life still has purpose. You are not alone in your endeavors. Believe me—" He idly turned his head off toward the distance. "—you very much still have allies on your side."_

" _ZAN!"_

" _ZANNNNNN!"_

 _Her ears perked up, and her eyes widened in a slow realization._ It can't be…

 _Following Hyness's gaze, she let her head drift away—and there, dashing closer to the duo—she saw them._

 _Flowing blue hair, fluffy red hair, and two equally concerned faces—they were just as she remembered._

" _Francisca…? Flamberge…?"_

 _All of a sudden, her two siblings (who, despite all the odds they had faced, were actually_ alive! **Alive!** ) _slammed into her—somehow, Hyness didn't drop her; he merely chuckled in amusement—and practically smothered her in a double-blend of sheer relief and excitement. Tears streamed down their cheeks as they looked to their elder sister. "Zan! We found you! We—We actually found you!" Francisca cried._

" _Oh-ho-ho,_ man!" _Flamberge was just as ecstatic, most of her usual stubborn nature having receded from the limelight and replaced with simple joy. "It's been a tough few weeks, I'll tell you that—but finally, we're together again! Ha! It's—It's great!"_

… _this was real._

 _This was—this was_ real.

 _Like Hyness had said—she wasn't alone. Not at all._

 _Much like her sisters, a volley of tears freely gushed from her eyes, the glimmer of hope that had once been lost now returning and sparkling like a diamond. She returned the embrace as tightly as she could, audible sobs coming loudly from her throat. "Y-Y-You're here," she wept. "You're here…" She found herself unable to say anything else as she let her emotions entirely overtake her._

 _She was so emotionally overwhelmed, in fact, that electricity began to sparkle around the trio of sisters (and one officiant). It danced and pranced about, representing all of Zan Partizanne's renewed happiness as it vibrantly_ _ **lived,**_ _to an extent that Hyness had barely ever seen before in his life. While the reunited siblings didn't seem to notice, and were instead content with just enjoying having each other's company again, Hyness could see the magical potential brimming within her, somehow amplifying the others' powers through her sheer presence. And to think, it was all because she had been rejuvenated in body and spirit…_

 _Hyness smiled. These moments, seeing those he helped sing in simple delight… they were what he lived for, clear as day. He was not entirely certain where his favored gods would lead him next, now that his self-imposed goal to rescue this trio was complete. He could not, under any circumstances, leave them alone in this harsh galaxy—he had already seen for himself the damage that had occurred as a result of the tragedies in their lives._

 _Perhaps… he could care for them himself, training them to use their newfound skills – and even help spread the word about the gods above that had given him this opportunity to begin with. It would do very well for the girls to have some semblance of a cheerful childhood, after all._

Yes, _he thought._ I believe… that would be wise.

* * *

 **Jambandra Base  
The Divine Terminus – Altar**

Sixteen Star Allies exited from the Warp Hole and back into the Divine Terminus, each of them managing to land on their feet with little adjustment to their stance needed. "Alrighty, everybody!" Kirby said, adjusting his baseball cap. "That's one dimension down…" He looked up, just as three more Warp Holes formed into place nearby. "…and three more to go. Joy!"

"W-Wow…" a voice echoed from behind the Star Allies. "This is—This is what the Divine Terminus looks like…? Creepy!" Several of them looked back to the Helpers Kirby had restored—Poppy Bros. Jr., Burning Leo, Waddle Doo, and Chef Kawasaki (and boy, was it weird having _this_ Kawasaki back after spending so long with Cappy Town's Kawasaki)—jumping out into the altar, the wormhole they came from dissipating into cyan flames immediately afterward. _Guess they're done exploring Another Dimension for now,_ Kirby thought. "These cult guys, they _really_ know how to do their thing… y-you get me…?"

"It's probably wouldn't be too great as a cooking environment," Kawasaki noted. "Terrible as a dining room, too. I'd be physically uncomfortable just _sitting_ here, whether it be with a plate or my big pot."

"I think it'd be better to just torch the whole thing myself," Leo suggested. "But we can save demolitions duty for later. We've got other things to do, right?"

"Yep, you got it. Three more to go, huh…?" Dedede did some mental math, counting off on his fingers. "Well, I guess that means we've got 120 Friend Hearts total to collect," he stated. "Four dimensions, each with thirty Friend Hearts… we really have our work cut out for us this time."

"At the very least, it will be an interesting exercise in both our physical and our intellectual skills," Daroach mused, a clawed hand on his chin. "It has been a good while since I've gotten the chance to put both of them to work like this. Finding treasure chests is most certainly not quite as intensive as this."

"To be fair, _I_ was the one that got to most of those treasure chests first," Kirby recalled. "Man, those were pretty weird—I mean, I found some in a volcano, underwater, on the Halberd—" (Meta Knight muttered something under his breath; "We were on high-alert for intruders for a week…") "—and somehow, they even got to _space!_ It was the _weirdest,_ you get me?"

"… _space?"_ Doo repeated. She seemed fairly confused by what the Hero of the Stars was discussing. "And here I thought those Puzzle Pieces were something else…"

"As much as I would _love_ to sit here and listen to you guys' fascinating tales," Susie drawled, a hint of something sarcastic to her voice, "we have business to take care of. If we're only one-quarter of the way to our ultimate goal, than it is imperative than we get there as soon as we can, based on the information the mage here—" She pointed a thumb at Magolor, who waved back—"gave to us. Besides…" She warily glanced at the three open Warp Holes, all oozing with equal amounts of unpleasantness. "…I would rather not have _those_ open any longer than they have to be."

"Hmph. We agree on that front, at least," Dark Meta Knight stated. He looked around the altar, his finely honed darkness detector ringing in his mind. (He was a denizen of the Mirror World; everyone there, at minimum, could sense negativity from several feet away.) "Something's… different about this location, now," he noted. "There is an air of… unmistakable change in the general vicinity."

The fifteen other crew members (and four Helpers), intrigued, looked around—and indeed, the Divine Terminus had subtly transformed: a crimson tint colored all the structures surrounding the altar, and transcendently blue flowers had blossomed at the edges of the area. For a moment, the memory of the Hyper Zone transforming from black-and-blue to yellow with red-and-blue clouds midway through the fight with Zero came to Kirby's mind. _Knowing the Jambandra Cult and the nature of their 'gods'… there's more to this than what meets the eye. (It always works out that way.)_

Poppy put a hand on his chin. "It—It's a bit hard to see…" he admitted, "but… yeah, something _does_ feel a little more ominous than before…"

"Hey," Adeleine realized, "this place…! It looks like it does when we were fighting Morpho Knight! The color scheme's the exact same!" Quickly, she summoned her easel and painted the scene of the altar pre-transformation, in order to properly compare between the scene before them. "L-Look here; it was a lot more blue the first time around, and now it's completely red! I-I'm an artist, I can see that!"

"Ah!" Kawasaki snapped his fingers, despite the fact he didn't really _have_ fingers. "I get what you're talking about! It's like somebody accidentally added a bunch of spicy peppers to a previously tame bowl of noodles!" _(Funny how you should say that,_ Kirby thought, thinking about a past incident involving the chef's counterpart in Cappy Town. _Guess you two are more alike than expected.)_

"Hmm… Spooky, mates," Rick commented. "Too bad Halloween was last month; it'd be great atmosphere otherwise."

"Ain't that charming?" Marx said, narrowing his eyes. "They're really trying to live up to their reputation, eh?" He scoffed. "Tryhards. They have no idea what _real_ villainy should be. I've got half a mind to really let 'em have it for that!"

"Is that _really_ what we should be focusing on?" Kine slowly deadpanned.

"Maybe not—but it's fun! You have to admit that, at least!"

"…I can't admit that, no. I'm not exactly a villainous individual, you see."

"Phooey. You all stink, you know that?"

"If those are your standards for 'we stink', then that is a perfectly acceptable condition for us," Dark Meta Knight stated.

Magolor brought out his 3DS and opened it up, the antenna sticking out of it spinning around wildly as the device scanned the altar around them. "There's a strange reading I'm getting from this place," he said. "It's definitely that of Another Dimension, like before, but… somehow, it's gotten worse than when we came in." He frowned behind his mask. "That… _really_ doesn't bode well. If it's able to do _this_ to its surroundings in such a relatively short timeframe, then I can't say I know what else it'll be able to do."

"Hmm… You said the whole dimension was unstable, correct?" Meta Knight recalled. "Perhaps this is a side-effect of what the Jambandra Cult has unleashed upon us. They have opened Pandora's Box, so to speak, and now everything is suffering because of it. That means we must act fast, lest there be more devastation brought into the galaxy."

"W-Well, th- _that's_ comforting…" Taranza bit his lip.

"D-Did you have to talk about it that way…?" Doo shifted in place. "Th-That sounds pretty scary…"

"Really? I thought it sounded like rotten food," Gooey drooled.

"And rightfully so," Coo grumbled. "Everything these Jambandra crazies do never fails to get on my nerves…" He brought his wings together, akin to somebody smashing a fist into their palm. "But I guess that'll make their eventual beatdown even better!"

"Th-Then that means we need to step up our game," Bandana Dee said. "We can't let—let—all _that_ happen to our home now!" He tightened his grasp around trusty spear, a resolute look holding steady in his features and eyes. "We're already a quarter of the way there; we've just gotta keep this up, and we'll save the galaxy before long! A-At least, th-that's what I hope…"

Kirby smiled at his close friend. _That's the spirit, Dee!_ "In that case, we better get back to work!" he declared, spinning his weaponized yo-yo around in a rather large circle. He brought his gaze over to the remaining three Warp Holes, still floating around in the air. "We've already gotten a taste of Another Dimension for ourselves – so I hope you guys are ready to dive back in. It's gonna be the largest dinner of our lives."

The rest of the group looked to them as well; they swirled and rotated in place like stars in the night sky, each of them emitting that same aura of incredible darkness – and all three of them together only added exponentially to that effect. Marx and Dark Meta Knight both glared into the wormholes; their respective limbs shook with something resembling anticipation and determination. "It's gonna be a heck of a dinner, then," Marx remarked. He turned to his Vitriolic Best Bud and grinned. "Think you can last the whole way through? It'd be pretty terrible if you 'got full' halfway through and had to retreat~!"

The doppelganger warrior scoffed, raising his head and emanating a sense of smugness with his posture. "I would have to say much the same to you, jester. Do try and keep up… if you don't drown yourself in those accursed balls first."

"Hee hee hee— _bring it, Darky."_

Daroach raised an eyebrow, taking out his Triple Star Rod and idly smacking it in his palm. "I don't think you have any reason to fear," he stated, a smile coming from seeing the aforementioned two interact. "We've all been prepared, on some level, from the day the Jamba Heart shards shot across the galaxy. We've seen the horrors within, and we'll gladly face it again for the sake of our home."

"That's right!" Ribbon cheered. "What are we waiting for? Let's get this done, together!"

"And besides—if this 'meal' ain't up to our standards, then I suppose we'll have to correct it our usual way," Dedede joked. "Cook it with our special 'techniques' 'til it's absolutely perfect! …that's probably not the way the metaphor works, but whatever!"

"Glad to hear it!" The puffball looked to the four Helpers awaiting orders. "Poppy, Leo, Doo, Kawasaki – the rest of us aren't gonna be able to look over this fortress, so who knows what else'll be happening here in the meantime. I'm gonna be trusting you guys to keep track of things, and organize all the other Helpers we end up bringing back from Another Dimension. That alright with you guys?"

The four Helpers jokingly saluted. **"Gotcha!"** they said simultaneously, Poppy adding on, "We'll do our best! We're Star Allies, after all!" He smiled, his party hat shuffling about atop his head. "We can't do anything less!" With that, the squad of friends marched off and away from the Divine Terminus, making their way to the rest of the rest of the Jambandra Base in a relatively excited manner.

With that out of the way, Kirby turned his attention to the leftmost Warp Hole, briefly shooting his yo-yo toward it. "Over there's gonna be our next destination, guys. Everyone in agreement?"

Fifteen Star Allies nodded in unison, same as last time.

"Perfect! Now c'mon guys, let's show 'em what we're made of—again!" Once more, the combined group of sixteen hopped into the portal to Another Dimension – and so, the marathon began again.

* * *

 **Another Dimension  
Dimension II**

The celestial chaos that came packaged with Another Dimension was still a spectacular sight to see, all things considered. In another place and another time, it could be properly appreciated for its gorgeous amounts of scenery porn – but here and now, in the middle of a threat to the entire galaxy, that simply wasn't an option. But amidst the levitating blocks and the technicolor environment, the Star Allies would find time to talk amongst themselves, come into their own as true companions of the highest order.

Taranza floated along as the Star Allies descended down the entrance elevator, the blocky pieces of land starting and stopping their descent at regular intervals. Nervously, he glanced around at all of his companions, each of them offering a snarky quip or a casual conversation toward the person that so happened to be closest to them.

"Hearts and sparks and so many arcs—there's a lot of things going on right now!" Kirby remarked, a wide grin reaching his cheeks, his yo-yo practically flying all about. "There's so much of it, we could have a full course meal with it and there'd still be plenty of leftovers!"

"And all the while, you would still be hungry for more even after the rest of us have long since been defeated by its enormity," Meta Knight threw in his two cents. "Truly, your endurance for things know no bounds."

"Um, why are we still using food metaphors for stuff like this?" Kine quizzically asked. "I like food as much as the next Star Ally, don't get me wrong, but it… kind of starts sounding dumb after a while."

"Yeah—not _everything_ has to be food-related," Ribbon stated.

"Pfft! Speak for yourself! I think it's perfect! Food's my secondary passion, after all!"

 _They… certainly seem like they're having fun,_ he mused, _even in this type of situation._ He watched their smiles and smirks before looking down with a frown. _…I wish I could really join in._

As much as the others were trying, there was no denying that Taranza was a bit of an outcast in this little community: he hadn't joined in for the initial Jamba Heart crisis back in March; and unlike Magolor, he mostly kept to himself up in the islands of Floralia, with Kirby and Dedede serving as his only real forms of communication – and even friends – in relation to the lower world. Everyone else was so tight-knit already, it felt intrusive just to even hang around them.

Don't get him wrong; a part of him _did_ want to explore having friendships with everybody else. It had been a long time since he'd had words of kindness thrown his way It was just that—after what happened with Sectonia…

…

…even now, it was still hard to think about.

 _Do… Do I even deserve to—to have friends in the first place…?_ he wondered, looking rather somber. _After what I've done… how can_ _ **anyone**_ _want to be near me at all?_ _(They may not know, but—s-surely, they suspect it, at least…)_

"You're the other new 'recruit' of sorts—Taranza, correct?" The spider jolted a little. Slowly, he turned his gaze around—and there was Susie, walking alongside him with a hand clasped over the other.

"O-Oh! Y-Yes, I—I am!" he stammered out. "Wh-Why do you ask…?"

It was hard not to be intimidated by Susie, what with her dynamic entrance and cold demeanor. Blunt, aloof, a fair bit technical at times – and that wasn't even mentioning her status as CEO of a massive technological corporation. Taranza could best classify her as an incredibly daunting woman – and he had experience being around those type of people, depressingly enough. He had to physically fight to keep from crumbling under her gaze—never the most fun of things to do.

"I merely wanted to discuss business with you," she said clinically, her eyes looking rather bored by the exchange. "Simply get an idea as to how you are holding up, given our current circumstances. It would be most troublesome if I were to have to lend this excavation my efforts while working under less than optimal conditions."

Taranza twiddled his thumbs, laughing a little nervously after hearing that explanation. _W-Wow… she—she r-really doesn't pull her punches, huh…?_ "I—I've just been fine, th-thanks," he replied, a hand rubbing the back of his head. "It's been a bit chaotic, s-sure, but it's nothing we can't handle. We managed to take down that b-big guy before, didn't we…?"

Sure, Taranza hadn't had much in the way of combat prior to this current incident, and his teamwork skills was similarly just as undeveloped – but hey, they managed to take the guy down without any major issues! _B-Boy, did that guy hit_ _ **hard**_ _though… I'm glad everyone else was here—it wouldn't have been very fun otherwise…_

"Point made." The two waited in silence as the Star Allies continued their trek back into the depths of Another Dimension. It was cleanly obvious that the arachnid was struggling to make any decent small talk, and Susie wasn't exactly keen on assisting him with that. He shuffled about, eyes moving left and right.

 _This is, uhh… p-pretty awkward… Th-Then again, I guess she got all th-that she came here for, so it makes sense for her to j-just cut the conversation off right there…_

…

… _h-how long is she… j-just gonna stand there with me? S-Surely, there's o-others more interesting than me to be around?_

…

… _okay, I—I should really just s-say something right now… Th-This is getting really uncomfortable…_

…

"You're one of those type of people, aren't you? Someone who feels as though they're responsible for something terrible – and as a result, it shapes their entire personality going forward." Taranza's head jerked toward Susie, a look of surprise etched on his face. "I suspect it is most closely related to the death of a loved one. Through indirect means, perhaps, and maybe not with the worst of intentions—but hard-impacting all the same." There was noticeably something more meaningful being displayed in her expression, something he'd even label lightly as 'understanding', even. _(But why would she—? I—I mean…! She—She wasn't—_ _ **She**_ _wasn't the one accidentally_ _ **killed off their only—!**_ _)_

"Wh-Bu-I—" He rapidly began blubbering again, his brain not quite able to properly comprehend wherever it was the CEO had coming from. "You—How d-do you know th-that's even true…?" he asked, his hands coming together and trembling in place. "Th-That's not anything you can just— _say_ to p-people out of the blue…!"

"If you put all the pieces together, it's honestly not that difficult to figure out," she stated. "It helps that I've interacted with a number of individuals who carry a similar standing to you, in my time doing business in the Gamble Galaxy. I know their traits." She brought out an open hand and counted off on her fingers: "You exhibit regret. You're hesitant to approach others. Your self-esteem is notably absent." Every thing she listed off made Taranza flinch harder and harder. "…I see that resonates strongly with you."

"…is it _that_ obvious?" he muttered.

"You hide it rather well, actually," Susie granted. "I imagine the loss wasn't a recent affair. Just as my own wasn't that long ago. That's… why I wanted to talk to you."

"…you lost somebody too? H-How? Wh-When?"

Susie hesitated to answer. "…it was two years ago," she began to explain. "During a… certain _incident_ involving my company and Kirby." _That sounds familiar,_ Taranza realized. "My father – the old CEO – was activating this old program, and—I didn't like it, so I interrupted him." She scowled. "Worst mistake I ever made. The accursed thing malfunctioned and took control of him, using him as a sort of vessel. There wasn't any time to figure out any solution other than the immediate one, so—I lost him. Forever." Her darkened eyes glared toward the ground. Her voice sounded bitter (and _very_ pained) as she professed, "Things… just haven't been the same since. And all I was really doing until now was… just going through the motions."

She fell silent afterward, letting all that she relayed sink in. It wasn't a very long explanation, nor did it go into too much detail – but it didn't need to. Taranza was already sympathizing with her. And if she, for whatever reason, trusted him enough to talk about such an intensely personal topic…

"…I used to be the assistant to the former queen of Floralia," he started to recall. "No, more than that—I was her best friend. She used to be excitable, adventurous, daring; she dragged me along a lot, but… I never minded it. When I was with her… I always felt like I could do anything." Gradually, his tone became more wistful—"I wanted to get a gift for her one day, so I went out alone, for the first time. And I found a mirror.

"It seemed innocent—just a mirror, waiting for anyone to take it. But—it changed her. Made her into something she wasn't: vain, obsessed, arrogant… it was if it was all her worst elements became all she was. And by the time I finally figured out what was wrong… it was too late for me to do anything about it."

"A mirror, you say?" Susie noted. "Doesn't Dark Meta Knight happened to use an excess of reflection-based techniques? I recognize a majority of them as derived from what Kirby uses with his Mirror ability, based on some old recordings I have from two years back." Unsaid was how much he _literally_ reflected Meta Knight, on more than just a skill-based level.

Taranza scowled. "Yeah. I noticed." The fact that the mirror warrior was alive and able to be redeemed, _able_ to stand alongside Kirby and the rest of the heroic Star Allies whereas Sectonia never got the chance… he hated to say it, but it honestly did weigh on his already-battered soul. Yes, Dark Meta Knight did help save the galaxy, and _yes,_ he wasn't the same person anymore as the corrupted, raving madman Dedede had described to him years earlier – but that didn't change what seemed to him to be an _absolutely_ unfair trade.

… _and the worst part is that it's all my fault,_ he dejectedly moped. _And—and there's n-nothing I can do about that. I_ _ **have**_ _to live with it. I_ _ **have**_ _to keep remembering this. Even if I wanted to try for a miracle, the way Kirby does; even_ _ **if**_ _I want to head toward that bright light—I can't. I just_ _ **can't.**_ _It's impossible._

… _I wish it wasn't._

"…how come you're even talking to me, anyway?" he asked. "I'm—I'm not the strongest, and I'm not the m-most worthy, either. W-Wouldn't others here b-be a better choice…?"

"I don't really know," she surprisingly admitted. "A-Again, I've—I've just been going through the motions all this time, so… excuse me for my rather experimental actions at this moment. I… wanted to at least try reaching out to someone new. My father made the mistake of allowing himself few allies on his side." She looked away. "And I know this now: you can't fight without anyone by your side and call yourself fine."

That… honestly resonated a lot with Taranza. After all, he himself had basically willingly isolated himself for the past four or so years – and everyone else was doing their best to befriend him, so…

…what could be the harm in trying to mend his shattered heart?

(It'd be what Sectonia—the _real_ Sectonia, before her fall—would've wanted him to do. Kirby and Dedede, too.)

"I… I guess you're right." He decided to offer out a hand (of six) to Susie. "I'll start here, then. Do—Do you wanna be friends, Susie?"

Susie, for all her philosophical talk, didn't really know what to do with the outstretched flag of friendship at first – if Taranza didn't know any better, he would've thought she was apprehensive as well – but eventually, she decided to take it.

She looked into his eyes. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Taranza. Let's see where this new relationship of ours will go—shall we?"

* * *

 **Dimension II – First Hero Trial**

Kirby had used a large variety of weapons over the past millennium: swords, cutters, bows, horns, bells, brooms; you name it, he's probably handled it at some point. While he was pretty partial to swords and hammers himself – they were the two of the strongest and most versatile of his abilities; plus, Meta Knight and Dedede used them the most – he had to admit, the Staff ability had rapidly grown on him since he first acquired it.

It had a lot more utility than just being a glorified plastic stick – and no offense to Bandana Dee, he preferred it a lot more than using a spear. _And I mean—who doesn't love bouncing on it like a pogo stick? Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy—c-c'mon, you can't say no to that!_ _(Just like a strawberry shortcake!)_ Even Jennifer—their own Jammerjab friend—had learned to appreciate it, once they broke her off from her high horse.

Of course, this type of situation was not exactly what Kirby had in mind when the Hero Door gave him Staff… which is to say, half-panicking and hyper-focusing on trying not to slip face-first into a pile of Gordos. Atop a pool of water, in a cramped room. Amidst a slew of Glunks shooting at him.

Definitely his idea of a great time.

"This place has got some ridiculous challenges," Kirby grumbled, his Zap-tipped staff in the middle of bending at an angle. He sprang upward, electricity dancing across the surface of the water, shocking a nearby Glunk into unconsciousness. "What kind of Friend Heart deserves this amount of dexterity— _and_ Gordos? I'm beginning to miss the crazy balls of Waddle Dees already…" _…and considering they were only an hour ago, that's saying something!_

There weren't even just Glunks in the water; there were several situated on the ceiling, too, and they were all too happy to blast away at the crew. "I must share your sentiments on that," Daroach said, kicking one off its place with a well-aimed ice beam. "There are a tad few too many of these aquatic creatures for my liking." He briefly glanced toward the other two Star Allies in the room. "I trust you three are at least handling our current predicament well?"

Bandana Dee, frantically tossing his spears everywhere and basically jumping all about in the air… wasn't _quite_ able to say that. "N-N-N- _ **Not really!"**_ he shouted, narrowly avoiding a torrent of projectiles shot his way. "I—I think I'd l-like some help here, p-please!"

"On it!" Magolor warped into range, hoisting Bandana Dee onto his back (like Dedede was wont to do) and summoning a star-shaped black hole above him. Suffice to say, the Glunks nearby never stood a chance. "And that's a few more debts repaid by yours truly." He looked to the self-proclaimed 'Assistant of the Stars'. "You doin' okay, Dee?"

"Yes! I'm—I'm fine!" he replied. "Probably! Maybe! …okay, somewhat!"

"Good enough for me," the wizard stated. He fired a few Magic Spheres around him, clearing out the area a little more. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gooey floating in his Mock Matter form close to the wall of metal blocks at the end of the corridor. Every so often, he would expel bolts of purple lightning and take out a few unsuspecting Glunks, though exactly _what_ he was supposed to be doing, Magolor couldn't tell.

 _I suppose that's Gooey for you…_ he thought.

A click indicated the activating of a switch nearby; sure enough, the bottom of Kirby's staff was now situated right over where the telltale rim of a switch was. And based on the familiar sound of a few doors opening, that meant their way to the Friend Heart was clear. "Finally!" Kirby exclaimed, letting his makeshift pogo stick hop up and down in place. "That took longer than it needed to! Okay, guys—can one of you clear those metal blocks outta the way? I'd prefer if I hadn't had to bounce around like a madman for nothing."

" _I_ w-wouldn't call it 'b-bouncing like a m-madman, myself…" Bandana Dee said. "You—You did pretty well, a-actually…"

"I will admit, that was a rather excellent show of athletics," Daroach stated, twirling his signature cane in his hand. "Grounded though you may have been, it was certainly no easy feat to pull off."

"Aw shucks, you guys are gonna make me blush! Well, harder than I usually do, anyway."

Magolor's attention turned to where Gooey was flying. His tongue seemed to be—of all the possible things it could be doing— _licking_ the metal blocks, as if they were made of gravy instead of cold, hard material. "Mm," his voice 'shrugged' in a Gooey-like way, "I don't like the taste. It needs more flavor." And then he stuck his tongue through the wall – and somehow, he managed to hit a Bomb Block and clear away the metal blocks, leaving only a set of doors behind where they used to be.

Magolor blinked. "…that 'lil blob never fails to surprise me," he commented.

"He always did play to the beat of his own drum," Daroach supplied. "He'll do it at a very off-tune octave and definitely not even at the same rhythm – but his efforts are commendable nevertheless. He steals everybody's hearts just by existing with innocence."

"Can't argue with that—you wouldn't believe how much Adeleine and Ribbon have to protect him." Kirby bent his staff as far back as he could go and flung himself halfway across the pool of water, reaching the Friend Heart and barely managing to avoid crashing into the wall. The crew flew with him out of the cramped room and back on the way forward. "Friendship stuff aside," he continued, "we should probably go catch up with everyone else. Hopefully, they shouldn't have gotten too far ahead of us while we were busy."

"That'd be rude of them," Gooey pointed out, in his typical airheaded manner. "Friends aren't rude. They're just looking ahead, I think. Good friends help others look out for danger."

"Speaking of everyone else… I wonder if they've encountered anything since we split up," Magolor mused. "You never really know what you might find in Another Dimension. There was this one time I ran afoul of a humongous strawberry spider in its 'treasury'…" He shuddered. "Lemme tell you— _that_ wasn't fun. And neither was the cleanup afterward."

Daroach furrowed his eyebrows, and idly licked his lips. "…I won't lie, I would want to see that for myself," he confessed, "if only to steal whatever treasures it was guarding for myself."

"If we ever encounter it again—and I do thoroughly hope we don't—then you'll get first crack at it. Preferably on the Lor. I've still got that miniature Lor to summon."

"Yes, yes, I recall you summoning that during our clash with that boss from earlier. I would not be adverse to captaining it myself. Say…" The red-clad thief smirked. "…what's the top speed of your little craft, anyway? If it's anything like my own, I bet it'll be a treat."

"Oh, I'm glad you asked! Though it may be just a miniature rendition of my vessel, I can proudly say that its wings and propulsion systems work near identically to it!" The redeemed wizard and the treasure hunter proceeded to launch into a conversation all about ships and specifications and a boat-load of things that just flew over Bandana Dee's head. _I think my head's spinning from all this techy mumbo-jumbo… We're—We're not gonna have a p-pop quiz over this stuff, a-are we?_

"Disregarding the delicious-sounding-ness of that spider, I'm sure they're fine!" Kirby proclaimed. "I mean—we're the greatest heroes in the galaxy, and they're literally a team of _eleven_ right now. What could _possibly_ be troubling them?"

* * *

Not too far away from Team Kirby…

"Let me just say this," Dedede loudly grouched, his voice slightly muffled by the water (and the snorkel he was using), his hammer at work batting away a Mamanti from getting too close, "I. _Hate._ Fighting. Underwater."

"I don't get why it's so problematic," Kine said, very much in his element. Already, two poor Blippers had already become ice cubes floating toward the ceiling. "I get that water's more of a relaxation device for you guys, but it really is an excellent environment for combat under the right conditions."

Rick and—surprisingly enough—Coo nodded assent. "Yeah, mates," the hamster said, briefly spitting a water-resistant fireball at a nearby Squishy. "Once you get used to it, it's really not that bad!"

"Says _you,"_ Marx grumbled, swimming out and snatching another Friend Heart that happened to be falling. "You two have spent NOVA knows how many hours playing 'round in a lake or whatever—excuse _us_ if we like to stay dry!"

"So declared by one who enjoys plunging the contents of water-logged containers into the faces of your slumbering allies," Dark Meta Knight mumbled. "Repeatedly."

"I suppose it is something of a blessing, then, that you are not alone in experiencing the… _tremendous_ wonders of our favorite prankster," Meta Knight stated, slashing away a different Mamanti who looked far too interested in the Friend Heart he himself was carrying. "Be them Star Ally, Cappy Town resident, or Ultimate student… hmm, those are certainly some wide-ranging categories. Perhaps a support group is in order."

"That, I will agree with you on. Weekly meetings would be paramount."

"Hey, hey, hey—what's that sarcasm I'm sensing when you say 'tremendous wonders'? You're talking about me like I'm an epidemic!" Marx complained with a pout. "You should have more faith in me! I'm not _thaaaat_ bad!"

" **Yes, you are,"** the two knights responded simultaneously.

"Can we _please_ stay focused on our current targets!?" Susie yelled at them, her exasperated voice loud and clear despite the rather waterlogged environment. "We can have a _fascinating_ debate about the merits of each other _later!"_

"Fine," said three Star Allies, two resisting the urge to roll their eyes (and one who most certainly was indulging in said urge).

Under her breath, she muttered, "So unprofessional…" (But somehow, she felt right at home with them.)

* * *

 **[Rick]**

 **Dimension II – Second Hero Trial**

It's a familiar routine, goin' through this obstacle course. You'd think it wouldn't be, considerin' the huge gap between the second Dark Matter invasion and our last 'venture back in March – but even so, I still remember those days fondly.

Adventures. There's nobody in Dream Land who'll complain about 'em. Sure, the whole 'big bad thing-a-ma-jig coming for our planet' practically every time is a big bummer, but that doesn't change how much of a blast they can be.

Even now, those old-fashioned instincts still come easily to me. Run forward and up and down and even backwards here and there, swap out with Kine and Coo whenever the situation calls for them, give these enemies a good stomping—or sizzling—whenever we need it… y'know, the works! I mean, it ain't rocket science!

"C'mon, mates!" I grinned. Me, Kine, and Coo were currently takin' the lead and swimming through yet another watery corridor. "We've got a whole dimension to get through, and plenty of those Friend Hearts to find!"

"We heard you the first time, buddy!" Dedede yelled back.

"And we'll hear you the next few times after that," Coo snarked, just like he always does. Awwww _—_ that's our buddy for ya!

As I've grown accustomed to, there's a _bunch_ of stuff in our way: burning logs, walls of spikes, those squiddy guys – but it's nothing we're not able to handle! Like a well-oiled machine, we danced through all of 'em – and hit a few switches I pointed out 'long the way; experience tells me they probably do something to help us out.

"You know, mates… I've missed doin' this," I admitted, as we (ridin' as a trio) swerved below to avoid smacking into a face full o' spikes. "I kind of wish we hadn't been absent for everything past Dark Matter." I popped open a parasol in front of one of those squids, knocking him unconscious in an instant. "All this talk about other dimensions and saving the galaxy—it makes me wonder just how much crazy Kirby's been through. You—You guys get me?"

"Pretty much. You're not the only one thinking that," Kine replied. "Here I was, content to believe Dark Matter and hostile robots were the worst we could see… and then we get this. It's a bit whiplash-y… though I suppose it was always going to happen at some point."

"We should've been there for 'em," Coo expressed. "We're Kirby's friends, after all! We shouldn't be out of the fight entirely! If our friend needs us, we should always be there to beat whatever enemy he's facing!"

…Coo's got a point.

People in Dream Land, we're naturally pretty sleepy (sometimes, in the literal sense). A lot of us prefer keep to ourselves, occasionally joining up with Kirby for a fun 'lil friendship gathering. A lot of us Dream Friends have stayed out of Kirby's journeys for the most part, 'cause he's usually been enough to save Pop Star from its crises.

That's long since changed.

This wild ride of ours… how _does_ Kirby go through this type of thing almost every year, alone or accompanied by few of his friends? Does he ever wish we were around to ease whatever loneliness he might have—because I know for sure _I_ wouldn't want to be without Kine and Coo?

…maybe I should think about that later.

"Nothin' we can do about it now, mates," I said, a little more solemnly than I liked. "Let's just keep goin'."

In any case, we soon managed to reach the end of the tunnel, surfacing to see one of those one-way platforms right above us. Coo flew me and Kine upward where we could see two routes: a left route cordoned off by a column of ice blocks, and a right route free of any of that hogwash. It took me and the crew approximately five seconds to figure out where all the collectibles were. (Again, old-fashioned instincts at work.)

Without hesitation, we began trekking to the left. The usual business resumed: Kine took care of stray enemies, I burnt down all those blocks of ice, and Coo flew in and grabbed any nearby food or trinkets he could get his fins on. And all the while—wouldn't you know it—our favorite pink puffball joined us on our way, giving some other wandering foes a good poke with his 'lil staff.

"Twenty-five years sure flies by when you're making friends and having fun with friends," Kirby commented, tossing his staff up and down in the air. Coo and Kine were ahead, letting us have a simple conversation together. "When I first landed on Pop Star, I couldn't have ever imagined something like this happening. So many friends here, all for the sake of our shared galaxy… it's almost like a miracle in three dimensions, really."

"Fun way to put it, Kirby," I replied. "Wouldn't be the first 'miracle' you've helped put together. Blimey, it's not even the first time you've helped others become better friends." All I need to do is look around and see the influence of our three 'newest' guys for proof of _that._

"When you're shaped like a friend, things like that tend to just kind of… happen!" he casually dismissed. "It's what I live for. It's what I'll fight for." He twirled his staff some more with his eyes closed.

"…y'know, you've always found a way to be pretty chill about 'ventures like these," I stated. "Like—even when you were all serious at the beginning, here you are, happy and stoked. It's really somethin' else!"

"It helps that I've got the whole squad here this time. The crew members I know best, across the galaxy and even across dimensions… it makes me wish everyone at Cappy Town could see us now."

Right, the crew back at Cappy Town – the villagers and our alternate selves, plus the sixteen Ultimates we've befriended. I found myself smiling, remembering them. Sure, they've been at the center of some of the craziest events to happen to us – but even so, I can't help but feel fond over them.

I still remember when Kirumi and Ryoma first appeared—the latter in our Great Forest, the former after being dropped off by Meta Knight. 'Twas kind of bonkers, if I'm being honest: I mean, people randomly showing up without warning? That's weird, even by Dream Land standards. But in spite of that, they've become pretty good friends of ours – they may be somewhat quiet, but that's alright with me. Peace and quiet's a thing we tend to appreciate 'round here.

Same thing with our Cappy Town counterparts. You'd think interacting with a guy who's basically the same as you would be a most bizarre experience – but it's not that bad, honestly. They haven't gone through as much as we have, but they're still fun to hang around. Other me's like the brother I never knew I had – ain't that saying something?

Man, if only everybody knew about the quest we were undertaking…

"…thinking about their smiles gives me strength," Kirby suddenly said, after a little bit. "Sure, it gets a little lonely sometimes, and it's not fun and games all the time on Pop Star. But…" He stopped spinning his staff, instead holding it out like a hand reaching out. "…then I remember all that I'm fighting for, and all my fears fade away." He glanced at me. "You were probably wondering about that, weren't you?"

E-Eh!? "W-Well," I said, scratching the back of my head, "I—I can't say I _wasn't,_ n-no—"

Kirby laughed. "Oh come on, I could see it in your face from a mile away. And that's okay! It's only natural to be worried over your friends. I'd be in the same position if it was me having to watch from the sidelines." He smiled. "I don't blame you for 'not being there' or anything. I want you guys to be happy, above all else. I think that's something everybody would want for their friends—right?"

…and there he goes again, doing what he does best: showing us the power of friendship.

That's why we like him, really.

Y'know, it's been a huge year for us. From big Cake Royales to galaxy-wide adventures to even a whole different Dream Land – our world's changing, and though there'll always be a place for us to just relax and take a nap, we can't look away from danger anymore. (Not like we were the type of people to do that in the first place.) And you know what? That's okay. I think we're _all_ ready for a bit of change – and we'll gladly the chance to team up again with our adventuring buddies.

'Sides, we've got plenty of friends to look out for too. Pick, Mine, Chuchu, Pitch, Nago, even Kirumi and Ryoma… they'd all want us to fight on, even if they couldn't be there to lend a hand themselves. Everyone else here feels the same way, I know that. It doesn't matter that we've sat out the previous dozen-or-so adventures – what matters is that we're here, and we're willing to give this our best shot. We're united now, more than we've ever been before, and with everyone else lifting us higher – well mates, I can tell you these religious hooligans won't ever see it comin'.

That's how Kirby's operated since forever, and that's how the Star Allies'll operate as well. Our favorite puffball's really influenced us in that way, and I can't say I don't like how everything's turned out at this point. So long as he stays friendly and I stay at our side, I think everything'll be just ripper. Sure, I'm not as amazing a fighter as, say, Daroach or Susie, but who says I need to be? I'm Kirby's friend, and that's all he needs me to be!

"You're right, mate!" I exclaimed. "Strewth, you always know what to do in a situation like this." I scratched my fur a little. "Well, 'nuff chattin'—I should catch back up with my other mates. Leaders can't do everything by themselves, y'know!"

"That's fine with me. Whatever you feel is right, I'll stand by it!"

With my resolutions restored, I marched on back to my two best friends, who were over at the end of this corridor in front of this treasure chest. Whatever comes up ahead after this… I know it'll be a real rage for us.

* * *

 **[N/A]**

There was a door.

There was a door, several feet off the ground.

There was a door, several feet off the ground, above an alcove.

There was a door, several feet off the ground, above an alcove, with no visible platform to get to it.

And the best part was…

Right below it just so _happened_ to be several sharp-looking spikes orbiting an elevated piece of land.

And unfortunately, said piece of land was _still_ too far away from the aforementioned door to be of any help.

(It should be mentioned that the Star Allies had already re-befriended the NESP hanging nearby.)

Kirby—and most of the other Star Allies—had experienced puzzles that required the usage of a key to open a locked door before. It had become a regular thing to see as of late; if there _wasn't_ a door by the time they reached the second 'level' of an adventure, then something was clearly wrong.

But none of that experience – not even the Friend Bridge dilemma involving keys and a veritable avalanche of Waddle Dees literally a dimension prior – could help them deal with _this._

"Well, this just sucks," Rick succinctly summarized the situation. The key for the door lay on the ground in front of him as he stared upward at what was assuredly impossibility incarnate.

"I couldn't have put it any better myself," Kine added.

"Clearly, this place is taunting us," Coo griped. "It's _right there!_ The confounded contraption is plainly visible to _all_ our eyes and yet— _it is impossible to get to!_ That's—that's simply— **hogwash!** Absolute **hogwash!"**

Experimentally, Ceri the NESP brought up her hand, and attempted to use PK Shift on the door. It didn't work. "Okay," she said cheerfully, "I'm outta ideas."

" _THAT-_ DIDN'T-TAKE-LONG," Gim snarked, spinning his yo-yo around. "YOUR-'MAGIC'-CLEARLY-NEEDS-WORK. MAYBE-YOU-SHOULD-TRY-GOING-TO-MAGIC-SCHOOL-OR-SOMETHING."

"Hee hee hee…" Ceri giggled creepily. "You sound like you want to be a test subject for my studies. Shall I grant such a request?"

"Calm down, guys," Kirby tried to soothe the crowd. "I'm sure there's a solution to this… admittedly mind-bending puzzle. We just gotta think a little bit, that's all!"

"That might be a problem for at least half of us here, then," Susie drawled. _("Hey!"_ shouted a number of Star Allies in response.) "Is there a reason why we _can't_ just fly up to the door with the key in hand? Many of us are quite capable of doing that, be it with wings or simply hovering."

"It's… not that easy, mate," Rick slowly said.

"Unfortunately, he's right," Coo grumbled. "These blasted keys disable flight if you're even _holding_ 'em! I'd _love_ to carry it with my claws, but it's just impossible!"

"You wouldn't believe how troublesome that factor was," Meta Knight stated, recalling images from the 'Lor Reconstruction' quest in his mind. "The Ancients had a twisted sense of humor, it seems. Making tools only able to be held by hand and grounding its carriers in the process… it is truly an exercise in excessive uselessness."

The CEO scoffed. "That can't be right. You must be exaggerating. Such a key surely can't exist, even in Another Dimension." Intent on proving the knight wrong, Susie grabbed the key and whipped out her Transporter. The rotors on top of the flying device spun around for a moment… before unceremoniously spluttering and promptly coming to a halt.

"…huh?" she said dumbly. She brought the Transporter in front of her, seemingly trying to comprehend what just happened—and then she proceeded to whack it with a wrench several times. _(Not even seasoned creators of technology are immune from using percussive maintenance, I see,_ Meta Knight noticed.)

"You can't be breaking down now!" she hissed. "I gave you an update to your systems last week! I _personally_ saw to your bug-testing back at the facility! _Get back to work already!"_

Adeleine walked up to Susie and moved the key a fair distance away from her. All of a sudden, the blades of her Transporter suddenly 'got back to work', as she commanded it to do. The former secretary flitted her eyes back and forth between it and the key.

She took the key in her hand.

The Transporter stopped working.

She put the key down.

The Transporter started whirring again.

She repeated this process a couple more times.

The exact same result occurred.

"…what," she finally said.

"Yeah, keys are weird," the artist said, a sheepish smile on her face. "You're not the first one to be like that about 'em."

"No kidding," Ribbon muttered, annoyed. "I can't carry them at all – or pick up Addie while she's carrying one!" She frowned. "I don't like it. I'm a fairy! If I can't fly, then there's not a whole lot I can do!"

Susie stared blankly at the fairy for a bit before throwing her hands up in the air. "Fine. Fine!" she groused. "I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore. What _else_ can this insane _obstacle_ of a place throw at us?"

"It can throw us a bone," Gooey randomly said. "Sometimes I hear people say stuff should do that more often. So maybe this place will do that."

A brief silence aired through the area, as was wont to happen in the blob's presence. Susie buried her face into her palms, her whispered grievances too low a volume for anyone to hear.

"That is… farfetched, to say the least," Dark Meta Knight replied.

"If it was willing to do that, we wouldn't have gotten Parallel Woods as a boss fight," Dedede opined.

"IT-IS-DISAPPOINTING," Gim intoned, "HOW-SIMPLE-LOGIC-FALLS-TO-SUCH-SAD-PARLOR-TRICKS. I-WOULD-DOCUMENT-THIS-IN-MY-MEMORY-BANKS, IF-I-WEREN'T-SO-INSULTED."

" _And_ _ **I'm**_ _insulted by your insistence on ignoring almost anything mystic,"_ Ceri griped quietly.

"Back to business," Kine sighed. "Anything will go, I suppose."

And so the suggestions continued. "We could try painting a cannon, like we did before," Ribbon tried. "Shoot the key all the way to the door. So long as it _gets_ there, it shouldn't matter how it does!"

Adeleine shook her head. "My paintings are a bit too limited for that," she refuted. To demonstrate, she drew a Waddle Dee and sent it toward the key on the ground. No matter what it did, it didn't seem to affect the key in any way. "They can attack enemies, and I can ride 'em, but they're not so good at interacting with objects."

"I wish they were," Marx bemoaned. "There are just so many opportunities for prank setups otherwise…"

"O-Okay," Bandana Dee interjected, "h-how about we stack together a-and carefully balance toward the door? I—I think we've—we've got enough room t-to do it…"

"It… It _could_ be done," Kirby replied, "but…"

"…we're more coordinated in battle than we are in athletics," Magolor finished for him. "In addition…" He looked up at the missing clifftop; it was vertically quite the distance away. And there were still the spikes to worry about. "…we'd run the risk of stumbling and destroying the key entirely. Which… wouldn't be good. At all."

"It's still an actual idea, though," Dedede said. "Probably our best one right now."

"Me, Kine, and Coo have enough experience in stackin' up to give it a shot, anyway," Rick shrugged. "We'd just need maybe a couple other dudes to join us and we'd be golden."

"I'd be more than willing to do it," Ceri volunteered immediately. "I haven't gotten a chance to practice using my ESP while keeping my balance on somebody else… Hee hee…"

"O-Okay," Taranza stammered, officially creeped out, "do—do we have a-any _other_ ideas? Ideas th-that _don't_ involve c-creepy magic girls?"

Just then, a ball of ESP inexplicably exploded close to where the Star Allies were standing. They jumped and instantly turned to look at their resident psychic girl. As unnerving as she could be, she had the sense of mind to hold her hands up in the air and say, "That wasn't me. I have better control than that."

The sound of PK Shift charging up got them to move their eyes toward the platform surrounded by spikes – and lo and behold, there was another NESP floating right above it, clearly hostile to the group. "Ha ha!" he melodramatically declared. (Not all NESPs acted the same, like how not all puffballs had the same abilities.) "You all have fallen into my trap! I will defeat you interlopers, here and now, and reap all the rewards for my masters—!"

That was as far as he got before he was blasted with an ice beam, courtesy of Daroach. (Ceri shivered. _That_ was ruthless, even by her standards.) "So, enemies respawn even here," he noted, putting away his cane about as quickly as he had whipped it out. "I suppose we will have to keep that in mind as we continue onward."

The eyes of Rick, Kine, and Coo visibly lit up with these words, the gears in their brains beginning to rotate at a faster rate than before. Their gazes gradually turned toward each other, and a wicked smile soon sprouted on each of their mouths. _Just what we needed, mates,_ the hamster thought.

"Teleportation was always _really_ fun to do," Marx recalled; by this point, the majority of the Star Allies were huddled together again, with the Animal Trio allowing themselves to sink into the background. Just for show, the jester disappeared and reappeared several times, a joyous grin hanging off his cheeks as the likes of Gim and Taranza struggled to keep track of him. "I could teleport all day and never get tired of it. So maybe we should teleport the key into the door! Like Mags here would teleport lasers into portals!"

"I'm beginning to regret telling you about that."

Ceri suddenly looked far more interested in the conversation.

(In the background, the Animal Trio had backed away a fair distance away from the 'spike pit of collectible doom', as more playful minds would call it. Kine's back was to his two friends, a plunger propped out of his mouth to defend against any would-be attackers. Rick and Coo, notably, looked to have a plan already figured out in their minds.)

"If the key is warded against any and all forms of flight," Daroach began, "then warping is likely out of the question as well. Though I myself have experience in using magic, as does our wizard friend—" Magolor nodded, in acknowledgement—"I do not believe either of us can use it so effectively as to break time and space wide open."

"It'd probably just add to our already existing problems," Dedede said. _And I see enough teleport spamming out of Soul Bosses as it is,_ he thought. A moment passed, and then he added, "Not like these Friend Hearts aren't already enough of a headache for us…"

"Alas, these Friend Hearts are too vital to ignore," Meta Knight half-lamented. "But you know we'd gladly hunt for them, again and again. They're important for Kirby, after all."

"You've—You've got th- _that_ right!" Bandana Dee proclaimed.

(The plan was remarkably simple, once they remembered and often forgotten trait of Rick's admittedly large feet. And of course, Star Allies being Star Allies, there was no way they couldn't go through with it without a little flair to spice things up. Even Kine, as calm and composed as he often was, couldn't wait to see the result of this next act.)

"Awwww," Kirby rubbed the back of his head, his blushes becoming a little more red. "Thanks, guys! You really know how to make a guy blush."

"AMUSING-AFFECTIONS-ASIDE," Gim spoke up, "WE-STILL-REQUIRE-A-SOLUTION-TO-OUR-CONUNDRUM. I-REQUEST-A-CONSENUS-TO-BE-MADE-BEFORE-I-DECIDE-IT-FOR-YOU-ALL."

"Maybe one of us could just… throw the key really hard?" Adeleine suggested, a hand beneath her chin. "And we have a bunch of us waiting beneath the door in case the key ends up dropping?"

(All the Animal Trio needed to do now was wait for that devout NESP to warp back into the scene. Coo jumped onto Rick's back while Kine carefully positioned himself behind the two. It felt kind of ironic to Coo, honestly, considering what he had ended up pulling off the previous dimension. _I guess that just goes to show how great my ideas are!_ he internally beamed.)

The fourteen other Star Allies in the huddle considered that idea for a couple moments. Then Kirby did his best impression of a shrug and decided, "Well, we've gotta try _something_ eventually. So sure, let's do this!"

"I refuse to be standing in front of this door any longer than necessary," Dark Meta Knight said. "If, in some way, this method allows us to finally progress further into this dimension, then at the very least, it is a method worth my consideration."

"What Darky said, minus all that fancy fluff," Marx chimed in. "Now, how about we _key_ in our success already?" He flamboyantly spun on his feet to where the key should've been, only to find empty air. "…eh? Did we get pranked while I wasn't looking?"

Out of the blue, a _very_ familiar curling stone bearing Rick's face shot forward, straight toward the spike pit of collectible doom. Fifteen faces watched in varying degrees of awe and interest as Coo—riding atop the unorthodox vehicle—somehow managed to lift Rick up with the help of a parasol and send him flying. Rick returned to normal as he soared, hopping off a conveniently placed ball of energy from the returned NESP (who was also gawking in shock), then the NESP himself, and finally—he reached the door itself.

It became unlocked at last.

The tan hamster comfortably landed inside the newly opened corridor and picked up the three Friend Hearts waiting within. "Well mates," he exclaimed to everyone else, "it's done! Wasn't that an ace performance, or what?"

Another brief silence passed between the group.

Marx was the first to break it. "…wow," he said. "Y'know, when I said 'do it again, but better,' I wasn't expecting you to actually _take my advice."_ The grin he had before returned in full force. "I should start giving advice more often!"

The remaining Star Allies gathered had various reactions to the 'ace performance': Gooey obliviously tilted back and forth; Susie loudly groaned in exasperation; Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandana Dee just looked confuddled; Daroach had an approving expression. And as for verbal responses…

Ribbon looked disappointed. "I wanted to ride a flying rock this time…" she quietly said. She sat on Adeleine's shoulder, crossed her arms, and pouted. (It was a rather petulant act, sure, but— _Hey, it was_ _ **cool!**_ She could be forgiven after missing out twice, right?)

"Don't worry, Ribbon," the artist soothed her best friend, "you'll get a chance after we finish this whole adventure. I guarantee that."

"Okay, Addie… You better make sure Rick and Gooey make it happen, alright? I don't wanna miss out on it again!"

"ERROR," Gim suddenly announced. "ERROR. PLAYING-BACK-RECENT-FOOTAGE. ATTEMPTING-TO-ANALYZE-RECENT-EVENTS. CURRENT-VERDICT: WHAT-IN-NOVA'S-NAME-JUST-HAPPENED."

Ceri looked vindictive. "How's that _fancy tech_ of yours doing for you there? Can't match up to the mystic arts, _right?_ Hee hee hee…"

Overall? It wasn't too bad a scene. "See, guys? I told you we'd find a way to win this!" Kirby grinned. "Let's give it up for our temporary leaders, everyone! WOO!" He tossed his staff in the air again—and accidentally let it bonk him in the head. _"Yowch!_ Gotta be more careful there…"

Coo preened proudly. "Beautiful, ain't it? We've still got it! I bet you thought we couldn't do it— _but we_ _ **did!**_ Ha ha,take **that!"**

"You don't need to go that far, but… I won't dispute that it _is_ something worth celebrating, at least a little," Kine said, smiling.

* * *

 **Dimension II – Third Hero Trial**

It took approximately twenty seconds into Marx's stint as Hero Trial lead for him to actually get serious.

This wasn't because he was temporarily in command and he understood the consequences for failure (though he definitely wouldn't argue the latter) – it was because he had ended up kicking a ball into a random Bomb Block first thing and had a piece of land come crashing to the ground. The poor Blipper sacrificed in the process would… probably be missed. Probably.

Marx had shuddered – _actually shuddered –_ upon seeing it happen. Whatever jokes and aggravations he had immediately fell by the wayside as a result. (It was easy to forget the danger of Another Dimension when you could find time to have fun with your friends.)

In any case, none of the Star Allies wanted to become street paste by random falling fragments from the sky. They were too big to move, and it was too much of a risk to rely on the sporadically-appearing Dream Rod in the case of reviving any Dream Friends. So that necessitated some more careful planning.

The lead jester warily looked up; a _very_ thin layer of metal blocks was the only thing stopping another glorified crusher from falling. He spawned a watery beach ball beneath his feet and tentatively kicked it toward the Bomb Block at the wall. It exploded, and so did the rest of the metal blocks connected to it. Before too long, the terrain came careening down, its impact compounded with a heavy thud.

"I… don't like this," Marx confessed, biting his lip. "This whole place is a hazardous _nightmare._ There's evil—and then there's _monstrously_ evil." He popped off another ball and tossed it at the Driblee that had descended with the platform. "This is so clearly the latter type that it's not even funny."

"Are those second thoughts I'm hearing from you, Marx?" Dark Meta Knight inquired. "Not that I don't agree with you, but last I checked, you were not the type to so cautiously tread forward in this manner."

"Maybe I'm just putting on this front as façade for comedic effect," the clown suggested, though his heart wasn't in it – the mirror swordsman could tell, based on his more quieter tones.

He hummed. "That is a lie, and you are more than aware of it."

"…guess I'm not the only one good at reading people 'round here." Marx spread out his wings and ascended, gesturing for his Vitriolic Best Bud to follow. Several flaps of the dark knight's black and tattered wings later, the two moved on to the next floor of the makeshift tower, everyone else following in suit.

"I think about my own death, sometimes," he continued. "About drifting in space in a virtual coma for something like twelve years. I dunno about you, but—that really taught me a lot about… that type of stuff." _(Remarkable use of language,_ Dark Meta Knight commented internally.) "If—If there's even a chance of—of anyone here having to go through something similar…" Dark Meta Knight didn't miss how his friend-slash-irritating-pest's eyes briefly shot toward the piece of now-elevated land. "I… don't think I'd react well. Not after everything."

There was something far more insecure in Marx's expression, he could see. For somebody who relished in prodding through trickery as many people as he could, and generally being a rather noisy nuisance, it was a foreign sight to witness. And it was only here, at the front of the lines, with an ally who he had somehow gotten close to, where he was letting his previously-understated nervousness leak through. That spoke _wonders_ of how much he trusted him.

" _Buuuuuuuuut—_ that's not something you need to worry about, Darky!" _…he is certainly doing his best to conceal it in spite of that, though._ "I'm a big boy, I know how to take care of myself! And I'm sure you are, too! _You_ wouldn't end up beneath one of these things, after all!"

"Of course not. It would be unacceptable if I succumbed to such an embarrassing fate. The same applies to the rest of our companions, I believe – the ones you seem to be immensely concerned for." Marx shifted his eyes away as he kicked a ball toward another Bomb Block—mercilessly, one that only dropped three Rockies onto the scene. "Amusing – I distinctly remember you telling me to 'have more faith in you', and yet here I am, convincing you of the same thing. You are not so careless as to spell the doom of the Star Allies. In that regard, these crushers should not be unnerving you so deeply."

"Hey, they _doooooon't,"_ Marx unconvincingly lied.

"You would not be conversing with me like this if that was true."

"…okay, they do." Blowing up the trio of Rockies with a ball bomb, he continued, "It's—It's a lot of responsibility to handle. And I'm… not responsible. At all."

"I believe you are responsible enough to handle this. As do all of us." As they waltzed on over to the nearby ladder, Dark Meta Knight concluded by saying, "You and I are both more than capable of rising above our own faults – you yourself, however intentionally or not, taught that fact to me. Peasant though you may be, you are also my— _our_ proud trickster. Do not let this challenge get the better of you." He began to arise once more, leaving Marx there to contemplate his words.

He smiled. "…y'know, I think I've really gotten through to him," he said, his luster returning to him. "He's right. I should be more confident 'bout this, crushers or not! I'm the Ultimate Jester of the Gamble Galaxy, after all! _Hahahahaha!"_ And with that, he shot off into the sky, following his sort-of best friend.

("…is anyone here going to inform those two we could hear their conversation perfectly clearly?" Susie wondered, an eyebrow duly raised.

"Nah!" Kirby instantly replied. "They're enjoying themselves, so we should just let them be!"

"Yeah! It's cute!" Adeleine collaborated. "And if you wanna disturb it, you're gonna have to go through _us!"_ Ribbon nodded in unison with her.

Susie's eyes noted both their determined expressions – and the way the former was holding her paintbrush. "…very well. I will just watch from the sidelines, then.")

* * *

Dedede grit his teeth as he dove out of the way of an incoming Bugzzy EX. "More EX Mid-Bosses, huh…!?" he hissed. "Only good thing 'bout this guy is that he's not a big bad boss!" _Though that's not saying much!_

The Bugzzy flew far, reaching Bandana Dee on the other side of the room. "E-Eep!" yelped the self-proclaimed 'Assistant of the Stars'. The poor boy panicked and started flinging spears at the mid-boss in rapid succession. And while they _did_ damage him… they didn't really do much to deter him from attacking.

The master of the Suplex ability promptly grabbed him and threw him at the wall. _"Ow-wow-wow-wow-wow—!"_

" _Dee!"_ Dedede exclaimed. _How_ _ **dare**_ _you target my precious assistant…!_

"Don't worry, I got this!" Kirby charged in—adorned with the Water ability, this time—and sent a whole wave of water washing over the oversized bug. It didn't take him long to reach his friend and hoist him onto his back.

 _Phew! Now that_ _ **that's**_ _done…_ Dedede flung himself back into the fray, bringing down his hammer hard on Bugzzy's head. In response, the wrestler (or rather, wrestling fan) jumped high and started repeatedly slamming into the ground, intending to crash into the regent. He braced himself with his hammer—and took one of the hits head-on. "Man," he said, being pushed backward, "you're even tougher than before! What the heck have you been eating!?"

Being more of a construct than an actual living being, the enemy Bugzzy huffed and glowered into his opponent's eyes. He crouched and promptly summoned a pack of Bugzzy Jr.'s onto the scene.

"…based on how quiet you're being, _I'mmm_ gonna guess it wasn't Superspicy Curry." And that was how Dedede had to fight off a swarm of fast-moving angered ladybugs with just his mallet.

Amidst the sounds of battle up top, Dedede could also hear the rest of the Star Allies—Marx included—shuffling below in the water. Marx's voice came to the surface: _"C'mon, guys! I can hear the Friend Heart coming down this way!"_

" _Th-There's a lot of e-enemies here, though!"_ Taranza's voice echoed back. _"D-Does—Does anybody know what's with the_ _ **giant whale**_ _!?"_

" _Addie and I do!"_ Ribbon replied. _"Long story, but I dunno how he got here either!"_

" _That doesn't matter!"_ Meta Knight barked. _"He is assaulting us; we must keep retaliating in kind!"_

"You know," Dedede grunted, swatting away the bugs, "when I think about it… you're not… doing a very good job… of trying to stop us…! I mean—everyone else… is kind of below us as we speak…" He shot a tired but cocky smirk at his foe. "Really, all you are is just a glorified distraction!"

Bugzzy could best be described as 'officially ticked off' now. He rose into the sky and started divekicking toward Dedede – only to be intercepted by Kirby pulling off Rainbow Rain right in his face _("Woo-hoo!"_ was his joyous cry), accompanied by Bandana Dee unleashing a series of thrusts with his water-tipped spear. _"T-Take that!"_ the latter exclaimed. "I'm—I'm not just a pretty face, s-see!?"

Dedede's mouth tipped upward. "That's my boy!" he said warmly.

The EX Mid-Boss hopped back a few steps, venomously glaring at the reestablished trio. It was clear he wasn't pleased by this change in circumstances.

"This takes me back," Kirby casually stated. "It's you two and me against a guy from Another Dimension who _really_ doesn't like us. All we need is Meta Knight and the whole gang's complete!"

"I can't believe how long ago that was…" Bandana Dee muttered. "We've—We've come so far, h-huh? I d-don't think I could've ever imagined us being here like this…"

"Neither did I a few hours ago, but life just loves to prove us wrong," Dedede responded. "I'm starting to wonder if we should start a betting pool for this type of stuff. The one we did for Shuichi and Kaede's relationship worked pretty well!"

"I call for fighting Void Soul Soul next True Arena," the puffball jokingly put forward.

"I wouldn't consider it out of the question to have another battle tournament or something in our future," Dedede offered.

"M-Maybe we'll visit a b-bunch more dimensions, like with that Ultimate Academy place…" Bandana Dee mentioned.

The sounds of pincers clashing alerted the three Star Allies to Bugzzy getting ready to perform a Turbo Dash Grab, a horde of more Bugzzy Jr.'s buzzing right behind him. "Looks like we'll have to place our bets later," Dedede said, his hammer once more slung over his shoulder. "I think _this_ guy's been standing long enough!"

"True that," Kirby agreed. The waves on his crown seemed to twirl at an excited pace. "Let's show 'em what for!"

" _Yeah! Together!"_ Bandana Dee rallied, his spear pointed directly at the sky.

* * *

 **[Gooey]**

 **Dimension II – Fourth Hero Trial**

My name is Gooey. I like being Gooey. Gooey is Gooey.

Gooey is a friend, and a friend is me.

Are you a friend, too?

…

Yes? That's good. Friendship is nice. I like having more friends. Kirby says more friends are good, so it must be true.

Can I be your friend? You look like you could use a friend.

…

Thank you. I've made a new friend today!

Let's talk. How are you today?

…

Oh, that's good.

Today for me is okay. We're in this dimension place trying to save the galaxy, I think. It sounds kind of dangerous, but if everyone's here, we should be okay.

Oh, right – everyone is here, too. There's Ado and Ribbon and Kirby and Dee and Marx and Dark Meta and everyone. There's also that robot-making lady from two years ago. There's lots of people today helping us and each other. We're all becoming better friends and I think it's very nice.

I don't really understand everything that's going on. This place feels weird and chaos-y and kind of like Dark Matter from before. There's these really strong bad guys that want to stop us from being friends, I think. We also keep finding these heart thingies that Kirby likes to use. There's a lot of stuff happening – but I guess it's alright. We just need to 'do our thing' and then it'll all stop being a problem.

That's what usually happens in Dream Land.

You think it's good too, right? That's good. Everyone deserves to be happy and to eat food. I like eating. Fish is yummy. So are apples. All foods are good for your soul. Food helps you do a lot of things – like make friends. Nobody can say no to eating a good lunch.

Unless you're a very bad person. I hope you're not a very bad person.

The Ultimate kids weren't very bad though – so you shouldn't be. I like it that way. You should like it that way, too.

…

You do?

…

Then… I think I like you.

What am I doing right now? Oh, I'm helping to explore this place that 'only I can take the lead on'—that's what Ado says. (Ado's a good friend of mine. I like the way she makes food. And she's cute when she smiles. Her face goes red when I say that to her though; I don't know why.)

There are wood stumps and burning wood here, but it's easy to take care of them. You just need to turn into a rock and use an umbrella. This makes the floor go up. I don't know why, but my friends think it's a good thing, so I feel nice for doing it. We even get some of Kirby's pink hearts. They taste like friendship. Like those fancy doors taste like doors. I should try more stuff in here. They don't taste bad.

We go up and up and up. There's even a ladder for everyone else to climb. Everyone looks like they're having a lot of fun. They're laughing and talking and jumping and drawing and lots of friendly things. It makes me happy to see my friends being good friends. Even if some of them were bad guys before, Kirby says everybody can be a friend if they really try – so it's good for the whole world.

It's a good thing to believe in that. You should, too. No matter where you are or what you've been, that's a thing that will never change. That's Kirby's motto.

…

…what about me? Mmm…

I'm not sure if I can tell you, but I can try.

I don't remember anything from before Dream Land. I woke up one day. Then, I became hungry. So I walked to some water and ate some fish. They were some very delicious fish. Those were the first foods I ever tasted. That's why I like to fish a lot. It's relaxing, and you get free food out of it, too. (It's even better when you're with your friends.) Then I forgot what time it was, so I sat there and thought about questions.

I thought about a lot of things. Who am I? Where am I? When is it time to eat again? Should I close my eyes and sleep? What does it mean to be 'cute'?

(I still think about them sometimes. Everybody thinks about questions – it's not really a weird thing. Kirby asked questions about himself a few months ago. He found answers to them – and he seems to be happy even after that, so it's okay to do.)

I was still by the pond when Kirby found me.

Kirby's a very nice guy. He likes friendship – out of everybody here, I think he's the person who likes friendship the most. He's my best friend, next to Ado and Ribbon. He taught me a lot about what friendship means, and how good it can be for both a single person and the people around them. It's a good feeling. I like it a lot. So I adopted friends—and food—as my favorite things.

I met a lot of people, thanks to Kirby. Dedede, Rick, Kine, Coo, Chuchu, Nago, Pitch—I became friends with all of them. It took a while for Dedede, but even then, when he acted like a bad guy—he was still a friend. (You just had to look for it.) I even made friends with Ado and Ribbon. Ado's real name is Adeleine, but that's long, so I just call her Ado. We met in Cloudy Park, and she fought Kirby because she was scared, I think – but eventually we became friends anyway because friendship is better than fighting.

I spend a lot of time with Ado and Ribbon. They're good at drawing things. I like to draw with them. My tongue is good at holding crayons and paintbrushes. I do my best and I'm not sure if it's enough, but they like it and tell me it's perfect and great, so it makes me smile anyway. Sometimes I wonder what it means when they stop me from doing something or say 'you're too innocent sometimes, Gooey,' but they do their best, so maybe that's enough.

Whenever I spend time with my friends, I get this bouncy feeling in my bounciness. It's a feeling everyone should be able to feel. Like Kirby, I try my best to share it with as many people as I can. Sharing food's a good way to do that, I learned. So I have big lunches and dinners a lot and that's okay with me.

I also spend time with friends on adventures. I don't go on a lot of them, but they're still fun. There was the time Dark Matter invaded the second time. I don't remember the first time, but I helped Kirby and all the Animal Buddies take them down and get all the Heart Stars. (Heart Stars are like Kirby's heart thingies. I dunno too much about them, though.)

We found out I'm a piece of Dark Matter during that.

…

You look surprised. Don't worry; everyone else looked like that as well. But Kirby didn't care. He said I was still his friend—and that was it. Nobody else cared about the fact that I was a part of a big evil thing, either. They understood I am Gooey, and Gooey is a true friend, and a true friend always stays a friend, no matter what happens. You understand too, right?

…

…yes? That's good. That's really good.

You're a true friend, just like Kirby.

I said before, I like friends. I'm here for my friends. I'm here because my friends need my help; because they want to protect me and everyone, I think. I don't understand everything about what's happening, but for my friends, I'll go anywhere. If this whole place wants to cause a problem for everyone, I'll help stop it with my friends. Kirby would do the same thing, so I'll do it too.

…

When I'm doing nothing except thinking about questions by the waters in the Great Forest, sometimes I find myself thinking about Kirby. Kirby makes a lot of friends. He makes so many friends and Helpers and Dream Friends, you could fill a whole city. We could call it Dream Friend City. (He'd like that.) He makes other people friends with each other, too—there's Taranza and Susie, Marx and Dark Meta, Ado and everyone, Magolor and Daroach, Tiff and Dedede… and I don't think we can forget about the Ultimate kids. (Kaede would agree, I think.) Kirby always knows how to make someone happy, to make them someone they can be proud of. I like to be like Kirby – and I believe you have the power to be like Kirby, too.

…

There's no reason to be a bad person. There's no reason bad things should touch you. You're somebody good, I can sense that. I can't tell what troubles you have, or why you're here, looking into our world. I don't know who you are, or what you think of us. But… I think there's something about us that makes you happy.

There is something, right? I don't think you would be here otherwise.

If Kirby could see you now, I think he would agree.

We do a lot of things, but we can still help others while we do things. So I hope we can do something to make your life better if you need it. Everyone needs a good friend in their lives – so let us be your friend. Let _me_ be your friend. It won't hurt. That's a promise.

There's nothing wrong with having a lot of good friends.

…

…I'm happy I can be a friend to you, then.

Everyone's counting on us to do the right thing, so…

Let's do our best to save the galaxy, okay?

* * *

 **[N/A]**

"I think I made a new friend today," Gooey randomly stated as he ascended the vertical corridor.

Kirby raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yep." Something about Gooey's voice, although dreamy as always, seemed perfectly satisfied—an expression the pink puffball recognized as one of his own, whenever he managed to at last reach out to a friend. (Dedede, Dark Meta Knight, Kaede, Tsumugi, Knuckle Joe… there were a lot of faces that could testify to that.) "I think they're happy to see us, wherever we go. I think they're a little worried, but I think that's okay. If we can make them happy, then we'll be able to make their lives better. We'll be able to assure them. That's what a friend does, right?"

Kirby didn't hesitate to nod with a mighty smile as they reached solid ground. "If you can then," he said, "tell 'em not to worry about us, alright? We'll get through this crisis intact. We're the **Star Allies** , after all." He pumped his fist into the sky. "So long as we stick together, our bonds'll be enough to conquer the cosmos!"

"That's good. They'll be happy to know that." And so Gooey floated off, beckoned by a column of rocks blocking an alcove to the right.

"…again, you've certainly assembled quite the collection of friends." Kirby looked to his sides to see both Magolor and Meta Knight walking up to him, watching Gooey stick his tongue up in the air to use a Friend Ability. Magolor brought a hand beneath his chin. "What do you think he means when he says he's made a new friend? As far as I can tell, most of everyone here is already more than acquainted with each other."

"The inner workings of a mind such as his can rise to places we cannot fully see," Meta Knight mused. "Perhaps it was always meant to be that way. If he has stumbled upon a person who he deems needs a friend, through methods only he can access… then we should accept his decisions, however strange they may seem."

"Gooey's a bit weird, sure—but then again, we're _all_ weird in some way," Kirby stated. "He's a good friend either way, so let's let him do friendly things however he so pleases! I'd do the same thing, in his place!"

"You would, wouldn't you…" Magolor closed his eyes. "…maybe's that all we need, in the end. Maybe that's all anybody needs."

"A true statement, if there ever was one," Meta Knight agreed.

* * *

 **Dimension II**

As inconsequential as they may seem, the Helpers were still an important part of the Star Allies. The main sixteen members were formidable fighters on their own – especially Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Bandana Dee – but who says a little more assistance here and there isn't something to appreciate? (That was why Kirby and Magolor had this gathering of heroes and villains to begin with, after all.)

Plus, for as relatively simple as things may seem… the instability of Another Dimension stretched far, even within its own confines. There was simply no telling what its influence could do undetected while the Star Allies continued their journey – especially since the Lor and its advanced systems were all the way back at the Jambandra Base's entrance.

The answer then was simple. With a threat as large a caliber as this, it was only natural that there be scouts to explore the limits and unknown dangers of this unbounded dominion. And who would be better for the task than the Helpers?

"Come on, gang!" Driblee excitedly shouted, riding a wave of water down an unexplored road. "We've got a lot to do while we're here and only so much time to do it!"

"YOUR-EXCITEMENT-IS-BECOMING-GRATING," Gim mechanically grumbled. "I-ADVISE-YOU-TO-LOWER-IT. MY-AUDIO-RECEPTORS-ARE-TOO-IMPORTANT-TO-BE-TEMPORARILY-TURNED-OFF-FOR-THIS."

"Come now, Gim," Bugzzy said, his champion headband perched proudly atop his head. "You needn't be so bothered by him." Much like Driblee, he radiated confidence in both himself and the situation. "We're all friends here, are we not? After all the trials we have faced together, we should more than understand each other's tastes! Ho ho ho."

"Well, I suppose that is partially true," Ceri interjected. Though her eyes were masked by her hood and her baseball cap, one got the impression that she was glaring daggers into Gim's robotic form. _"I_ certainly understand how much I dislike those overly focused on _stupid_ technological _junk."_

"BITE-ME, _WITCH."_

" _Oh, I can oblige you that."_

"Hey, d-don't do that!" Driblee pouted. "Why are you two always like this? Every time you're together, you two just _keep fighting!_ We're supposed to be a _team!"_

"TEAM-IS-A-STRONG-APPELLATION. 'TEMPORARY-PARTNERS'-IS-A-MORE-ACCURATE-DESCRIPTION."

" _That_ is perhaps the most agreeable thing you've said all day."

Bugzzy laughed again. The other three Helpers promptly turned to him. "Oh ho ho ho—you know, this is beginning to take me back." He closed his eyes as he reminisced. "You should remember too, Gim—Birdon and Simirror shared a similar connection to you and Ceri here." Somehow, the image in Gim's robotic lens seem to shrink as his memory banks brought up the relevant information into his mind. (Ceri tilted her head, oblivious.) "She was brawn, he was brains, they often clashed… you two remind me of them before they finally got together. Makes me wish I found my own sweetheart long ago. Ah, to be young again…"

Ceri got it that time. She and Gim slowly turned to look at each other.

"Hee hee hee hee hee…" Ceri giggled darkly. She turned back to look at Bugzzy. _"Oh,_ that's _funny._ Almost as funny as you volunteering to be my next training dummy."

"ERROR. ERROR. INFORMATION-INCOMPATIBLE-WITH-DATABASE. ATTEMPTING-TO-DELETE-MEMORY-FROM-RECORDS… WHY-IS-IT-FAILING."

"That sounds crazy… but also totally believable!" Driblee decided, his eyes sparkling. "I should tell everyone else about this when we get back! They'd want to hear it, too!"

Two voices simultaneously shot back, _**"Not a chance."**_

But before the conversation could continue—

" _ **SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!"**_

…

The four paused in their tracks.

"Wh-Wh… What was _that…?"_ Driblee slowly asked.

"I… I cannot say that I know," Bugzzy replied, his eyes narrowing to the point of utter seriousness.

For several moments, they didn't move a single muscle. Driblee dared to dream that, perhaps, they had just been imagining things. _Th-This place may be a little creepy, but that d-doesn't mean it's a s-sign of anything…_

 _Y-Yeah…! That—that has to be right…_

…

…

…

" _ **SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!"**_

… _N-_ _ **Nope!**_ _Not right, not right at all!_

"…ANALYZING-EXTERNAL-INFLUENCES…" Gim's lens rapidly shot about the general area, the gears in his body whirring loudly with his systems. "THE-GENERAL-ENERGY-READINGS-OF-THIS-LOCATION-HAVE-SPIKED-DRAMATICALLY. SENSORS-INDICATE-AN-UNKNOWN-FLUCTUATION-MOVING-ABOUT-THE-AREA—BUT-IT-IS-MOVING-TOO-FAST-TO-ANALYZE-ANY-FURTHER."

"…N-NOVA himself must be signaling something to us," Ceri chose to interpret. Her hands were clasp together and noticeably shaking. "He—He must be informing us that we need to stop wasting our time and get a move on. That is the truth. My—My psychic sensibilities will it to be so."

(In all honesty, she could've said 'I feel like my biscuits are on fire' at that exact moment and she wouldn't have been bothered over it.)

"There is a good chance that this is the type of worst-case scenario that the Star Allies anticipated," Bugzzy surmised. "We knew from the start that this locale was a dangerous sort. It appears we must stay cautious, lest we find ourselves unexpectedly overtaken." There was a great deal of wisdom in his voice, and everyone instinctively felt like letting him take the lead. "I may be old—but it will take a mighty storm before I fail to protect you all. That much, I swear."

"P-Please do!"

"…THOSE-ARE-ACCEPTABLE-TERMS."

"You—You better not let us down, bug."

* * *

 **Dimension II – Fifth Hero Trial**

" _ **CHOO CHOO!**_ _ALL ABOARD THE FRIEND TRAIN!"_

The parade of people barging through Another Dimension's latest trial was a sight to behold. Kirby was excitedly running forward with his hands up in the air and headwear mixing together a conductor's hat and a train whistle. And of course, following behind him – and linked together by bonds made out of stardust – were the rest of the Star Allies.

" _WHAT HE SAID!"_ Dedede exclaimed, a humongous grin hanging brightly off his cheeks. His hands were similarly waving around in the air. _"We're ridin' a highway to stardom today! HA HA!"_

" _W-WAHOO!"_ Even Bandana Dee was getting in on the action. "Let's go, everyone, _let's_ _**go!"**_

"I should go on more of these adventures, if I get to experience events like these," Magolor calmly mused, somehow managing to remain unflappable through the wind soaring past his ears. "It's quite fun."

Each of the Star Allies had their own feelings about the events that were unfolding: plenty were whooping in unison with their leader, some were struggling to stay as stoic as possible, and a select couple had almost no idea what was going on. (Five guesses who the last two were, and the first four don't count.)

"Wh-Wh-Wh- _Whoaaaaaaaa—!"_ Taranza's hands, rather than energetically cheering, were more or less frantically panicking at the speed of sound. "This is—This is going way too _faaaaaaaast—!"_

"Dare I even ask how this—this _spectacle_ of yours even came about…!?" Susie's voice barely managed to float past the chaos. "I can barely keep up with it…!"

Kirby's response couldn't have been any more expected: "It's 'cause of the **power of friendship** , of course!"

"…why am I not surprised by your answer?"

"You should be going with the flow, instead of trying to fight it!" Meta Knight advised from the frontlines. "Stay focused—we have a loop approaching us at rapid pace!"

"A _what?"_

"Oh NOVA, here we go…" quietly went Dark Meta Knight.

The improvised Friend Train hopped up into a suspended loop-de-loop (that, it should be noted, bore little resemblance to anything hedgehogs typically went through) and began running around and around it. Along the way, they activated a switch that made the piece of land start to horizontally scroll—though the majority of them would be hard-pressed to notice.

"I-I'mmm—I'm getting _dizzzzzzzzy…"_ Taranza babbled, his eyes swirling.

"You think _you_ have it rough? Imagine what it was like for _me_ the first time around!" Coo grouched. "You think birds are meant to go through this type of thing!? _Of course they aren't!"_

"But spinning around in the air is fun," Gooey said. "It makes you feel tingly inside."

"…ain't that somethin' you typically want to _avoid?"_ Rick wondered.

"When it comes to Gooey, you can never be too sure…" Kine sighed.

Kirby's voice kicked back in: "Going down!" The Friend Train descended down the go-through platform onto a conveniently placed slab of land, collecting another glimmering Friend Heart on the way.

" _Oh, jeez—_ there's _waaaaay_ too many bottomless pits 'round here!" Marx groaned. "Those are, like, the _**worst!**_ The joke material in this place is awful beyond belief!"

"You presume there is even humor to be found in the first place," Dark Meta Knight espoused as the parade of Star Allies bounced back into the loop.

"I believe there is," Daroach interjected. A smile entered his face. "You need only look at those closest to us."

In front of the trio of friends, Adeleine and Ribbon were clearly having the time of their lives. _"Wheeeeeeeeee~!"_ the Ripple Star fairy squeed. "Look at us _go!"_

Adeleine was similarly glowing. "Friend Trains are the _best!_ I feel like if we keep going, we're gonna touch the stars in _no time!"_

"…well, you're not wrong," the mirror knight admitted. "It's… a strange feeling, being able to have that feeling of levity through times of crisis. I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to it."

And then: _"Heads up, guys—we're going down again!"_

Right behind them, Magolor quickly said, "Well, I believe you will have to get used to it fast then. This dimension appears to stop for no one!"

"Oi, oi, oi—these next platforms are even smaller than the last!" Coo's voice squawked loudly. "What the heck!"

"Eh, it's nothing for us!" Kirby responded. "We'll press those switches and snatch those Friend Hearts with no trouble at all! Just watch me!"

"Fine—but if this gets us killed, I reserve the right to scold you 'til we reach the depths of the Underwhere!"

"I'll keep that into account, don't you worry!"

* * *

 **Dimension II – Temple Haven**

"Why do you think there are these havens in here?" Kine asked, as the crew of Star Allies walked through the virtual rest area at the end of the dimension. Whereas the previous area had featured clumps of golden trees, forming the image of a vibrant forest, this zone represented a lost temple instead, resembling the types Kirby and co. had seen on both Planet Towera and Gabbel Moon. "I can't imagine that there'd be anyone _willingly_ coming here and building it."

"Perhaps the current situation with this dimension and ours works both ways," Meta Knight hypothesized. "Through the now unstable link between them, the Gamble Galaxy may be imprinting elements of its own terrain into each dimension we face. It would certainly explain the environment that preceded Parallel Woods."

"It's—It's strange to think about…" Adeleine said. "How could something so beautiful result from some place so… so _dangerous?_ I almost can't believe it…"

Magolor had a different theory. "…it could be the work of the Ancients," he voiced. "In their prime, they had creations able to warp time and space as they saw fit. And powering some of them were Energy Spheres that came from this dimension. In that regard… these might be what's left of their efforts to colonialize this place."

Susie was silent, staring at a particular spot on the nearby wall instead of spewing her dignified snark. Her hand brushed up against an old and worn drawing – a happy mustached man and a similarly happy little girl, as rendered by a young child – and she began uncontrollably shaking.

Taranza and Meta Knight noticed easily. "S-Susie?" the arachnid called. "Wh-What are you—?"

"…this used to be the closest thing I had to a home," the CEO admitted, "back when I was trapped here."

"Hmm… You mentioned Another Dimension 'taking so much from you', before we left for Jambandra Base," Meta Knight recalled. "Is that, perchance, part of what you were speaking about?"

"You—You had to live in… in a p-place like _this…?"_ Taranza nervously asked.

Silence, for a couple of moments. "…not by choice."

She walked away, leaving the relic of her past behind – and giving the other two Star Allies a good look at it. Meta Knight and Taranza gazed at the image for longer than was necessary. It didn't take them too long to figure out what it was depicting.

"…she—she still thought of him, huh…?"

"So even a witch like her had something to hold onto…"

Ahead of the pack, Kirby decided to trade his ice powers for the Parasol ability. _Call it instinct, I guess._ "Okay, guys," he said aloud, "let's get back to business." Once again, the boss gate awaited them at the very end, the unsettling aura it was creating contrasting wildly against the holy nature of the setting around it. The puffball took out his parasol from his back and propped it open. "It's time for round two."

"Bring it on!" Coo exclaimed. "We're not gonna stop for anything!"

"Heh—can't say I don't feel the same," Dedede smirked. "What are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road!"

"Y-Yeah! No mercy!" Bandana Dee chimed in.

With those words of encouragement, Kirby smiled—and opened the door to renewed chaos.

* * *

 **Location:** ?

Like the cold blue forest that Parallel Woods had been found in, the second battle arena bore almost no resemblance to anything that had come before. A sinister red-orange sunset illuminated the atmosphere above, oppressively hanging over the ruined purple tower that sat atop the void of Another Dimension. And despite the clear skies, it felt like there was a storm on the horizon, just waiting to come and irrevocably ruin somebody's day.

The Star Allies stared warily at the dark violet smoke gathering in the middle of the air. The clump of smoke pulsated wildly, eventually splitting into two clouds which expanded at a startlingly fast pace. Kirby knew immediately who it was.

"Of course…" Kirby hissed. "You'll never leave me alone, even when the storms have receded and the weather's perfectly fine…"

More smoke expelled from the both of them with every second, until at last, sharp red spikes formed on their outer edges – complimented by the addition of one angry red eye on the both of them, with disturbingly yellow sclera.

"…isn't that right, **Kracko**!?"

Unearthly Storm Front  
 **Parallel Twin Kracko**

"Bugger!" Rick cursed. "It _had_ to be him, didn't it mates?"

"The Cloud Demon of the Skies…!" Taranza recognized. "B-But… there's—there's _two_ of him…!?"

"No time to talk!" Ribbon shouted, waving her hands in the air. "He's coming for us! _Get ready!"_

The two cycloptic stormclouds _roared_ – and thus, the clash with Kirby's life-long skybound nemesis began anew.

* * *

 **VS. Parallel Twin Kracko**

All worlds—whether in another dimension or some far-flung galaxy—are bound by earth and sky. And where there is sky, there is Kracko! Made of fallen tears and the scattered mists of his enemies, Kracko roars with a dark power. Stay on your toes, Star Allies!

* * *

 **[Marx]**

Kracko, Kracko, Kracko… aren't you just a familiar face?

I know 'bout this calamitous cloud – who wouldn't? He's persistent, he's trigger-happy, he's just as determined as good 'ol Pinky himself. The guy's always trying to get at Kirby, even more than Dedede here used to be. And he'll go through _anyone_ so long as he has the chance to bring him down.

I admit, I respect that type of willpower – I mean, I'm kind of the same way. But I _don't_ like it when it's being used _against_ us!

I've seen this guy before and what he can do. The True Arena from March showed us how ruthless he'll get when it comes to fighting his rival. (…or would it be 'they'? He kind of likes being a crowdy cloud half the time…) And that's why I know exactly what the two of him were doing when they started floating up and up and up.

"Hey, hey, hey," I nervously chattered—"Kirby, now would be a _really_ good time for you to use that big umbrella of yours!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Kirby raised his parasol up in the air, and it inexplicably grew to a massive size. "Whoever can get underneath here, do so! Everybody else, take to the skies!"

Dedede, Bandana Dee, Adeleine, and Ribbon didn't hesitate in going for cover – Susie hesitated briefly, but she eventually went for it too. Me, I brought out my currently lime green wings and flung myself toward the edge of the battlefield—just as the two Krackos grew a little larger and began spewing a _crapton_ of rain on Kirby.

Kirby can hold up to a lot of things; it's how he defeated my S-S-Soul Form all those years ago. But even he seems to be barely handling the terrible torrent terrorizing him.

And that's something I can't allow. I'm Marx, the second Final Boss of the Star Allies – and I don't let my minions (actually my friends, but _shhhh!)_ get battered by any bad guy lesser than me!

Electrified arrows started firing on all cylinders from my wings, blasting straight through the Twin Krackos' waterfalls and giving them a good shock all the while. Magolor and Taranza were similarly blasting plasma shots and bolts all about; Rick, Kine, and Coo had ascended and were wildly flinging feather boomerangs – but somehow, Kracko seemed most pissed by _my_ presence. One of his two selves, instead of continuing the assault, chose to target me – but that was fine.

Seriously. Kracko hyped up on steroids this may be, but in the end, this is still Kracko – and I know _exactly_ how to get on his nerves.

 _He should've just bolted on outta here while he had the chance!_

"Yo! How're you doin', grape puff?" I cheekily taunted him. He leered at me, unamused. _Yeah, that's right, look at me!_ "Gotta say, you're looking not that great today! You should really get some eye drops – though, I guess it's not like you'll be able to use it, eh?"

The ethereal cloud screeched incoherently and didn't hesitate to start rushing at me. I took off toward the sky, rapidly dropping zap-tapped balls down at his incoming mass. _Gee, it didn't take very long to aggro him. Looks like I haven't lost my touch!_ "That's right—come and get me!"

You know… it's still a little surreal to find myself here, properly alive and able to _feel_ again. It's… It's a feeling you don't learn to appreciate, until you find it taken away from you. It's even worse when you know it's the result of something you did. Something bad.

…I lived in Dream Land before Kirby came. It was pretty quiet back then – there wasn't a whole lot of interesting people to prank either. Just me, the oaf we called king, the Animal Buddies – oh, and Meta Knight too. (He's always fun to mess with.) Everyone else was either off the radar, or wasn't even on Pop Star to begin with.

There was a time I used to dislike it. The peace, the sleepiness, the same things just going on day after day after day. That's… part of why I'm such a big trickster.

I don't like seeing stagnancy.

 _(Because I think people can be so much more than the same boring person all the time.)_

…that's also part of why I tried to take over Pop Star.

And speaking of stagnancy, though…

I've got one Kracko off Kirby's back – but that means I've got one to deal with myself. And he's got plenty of rage to spare!

Spheres of electricity shot forth from Kracko's eye, and I found myself having to swerve _a lot_ to avoid 'em. I've never spun around like this before, and honestly, _I think I'm getting a little sick!_ I flew as fast as I could to the top of a nearby pillar (it's not like these ruins were going to be anything other than 'more ruined' by the end of this) and rapidly started kicking balls toward him.

Oh, don't get me wrong, they were affecting him to some degree – but it was more like chip damage right now. "Gee, it's just _shocking_ how much you wanna thrash me!" I sniped. "You oughta be more polite. Lemme show you how it's done!"

He was coming in closer and closer fast, so I jumped off and dove straight through him, soon after becoming a shadow on the ground. I could sense him wildly looking around, trying to find my location.

 _Perfect!_ _**He won't see this coming!**_

I gathered my strength—and threwmyself into the air, shadows bursting from around me and slamming into that crazy cloud. I front-flipped through the air and landed on the ground. And then, I beamed, spreading my wings like one would spread out their arms. "And the crowd goes wild!"

"Showing off again, Marx?" Magolor asked, floating over to my side.

"Of course! I gotta have flair, even in the worst of times!" I replied. "You know depression ain't my character schtick!"

"It would be depressing if we had to be all serious, all the time," Daroach agreed. His cape furrowed behind him, his trusty magic cane spinning in his hand. "We are the Star Allies; 'Moon Allies' would've been appropriate if we were less bombastic of a group."

"Heh – like we could be, Dar-Dar! I prefer rainbows to rain, if you get what I mean!"

"That's true of all of us," my favorite wizard noted. The sounds of sparks alerted us to the angry Kracko still on the battlefield. Mags' eyes twinkled. "Now… shall we let Kracko know that fact? I think all of us are itching to show 'em a thing or two."

I grinned. "Oh, you know us so well!"

We flew up, narrowly dodging another wave of plasma balls washing over the area, and started dropping a volley of projectiles – beach balls, fire bombs, magic spheres, you name it! And _ma-a-an…_ from this angle, you can really get a good view of the battlefield! Look, you can see everyone practically dancing! Kirby's twirling in his parasol and bouncing across the arena, Meta and Darky are doing that parrying thing again, Taranza and Susie (I need to get nicknames for them sometime) were jetpacking and… exploding, I think…

…I _love_ seeing everyone like this.

I appreciate them so much more than I used to. (It's a surprise how they appreciate me, too.)

For so many years, I had sat and watched as nothing ever really changed on Pop Star, as everyone was content with what they had. Even Kirby showing up didn't do much to shake things up. I didn't understand it. I didn't understand it at all. I didn't understand _anyone_ at all.

I know once upon a time, Meta Knight didn't either.

Funnily enough… he was my catalyst, in a way. I remember deciding, shortly after _he_ tried taking over Dream Land… I should try doing the same thing he did: _ **make a world unbound by an ugly 'status quo'.**_ A world where I can be free to shake up people's lives however I want. And to that end, I tricked Kirby into giving me the opportunity to do that – and thought that'd be the end of it.

Kirby, I found, was a much more formidable foe than I had anticipated.

…there was always a reason he's Pop Star's premiere protagonist.

I had dismissed him at first, based purely on his friendship-loving nature and his tendency to help anyone at any time. I hadn't seen him being able to halt Galactic NOVA's advance in spite of the odds, or him truly showing off the strength that allowed him to cast Dark Matter back to black – on _me._

And despite that – he still offered me his hand in friendship when he brought me back.

It's stupid, yeah, but… right then and there, I finally understood what I had been blind to all this time.

It's funny how death can change your perspectives. It's also funny how miracles can reach out to those you believe don't deserve it.

Magolor knows that as well as I do.

There's a reason he lets me call him 'Mags' without any complaints.

Everyone here – from Kirby, to Adeleine and Ribbon, to Darky, to Mags – and everyone beyond… We're partners in crime, minions in mischief, and there's not a chance I'd give them up now. Not after everything.

I know now it's not stagnancy I saw all those years ago – it's simply life being life. And for the sake of keeping that liveliness intact… and to be able to happily prank as many people as possible… and to keep eating all that good food (okay, I have a lot of selfish reasons, _sue me)…_ I'm gonna feed these wannabe villains their own medicine!

And it's gonna be _great!_

"Is that the best you've got!?" I taunted Kracko again, landing on the ground. "Must be hard to capture lightning in a bottle twice even for you, huh!?"

"That implies he could even do that once," Magolor commented, summoning that big purple sword of his to clash with Kracko's… weird yellow drills. (What even _are_ those?)

"His heart might be too steeped in rage for that," Dar-Dar stated. "One does not become so blackened without any distortions inside of them."

"Well, that's his problem, not ours!" I dismissed. "Hey, Dar-Dar—hand me something to throw at him! I think he could use it!"

Dar-Dar obliged, tossing a large red bomb my way, and I proceeded to kick it _hard_ at Kracko's open eye. A pillar of flame erupted from the ensuing explosion – and based on how the cloud fell to the floor after that, it was quite the critical hit. "And he's _down!"_ I sniggered. "It's almost scary how good I am!"

I could tell Magolor was smirking, too. "You mean how good _we_ are, right?"

"If that's how you want it to be, sure!"

Some of the other Star Allies ran on up to us when they saw our 'lil downed Debbie. "Kracko looks dizzy," Gooey said (he says stuff like this a lot). "He should get a bag of ice. I think it helps."

"I don't think I've ever seen Kracko so… unsteady before," Adeleine noted, colors looking like they were weaving into a spire of flame on her paintbrush. _(Wait, where'd_ _ **that**_ _come from…?)_ She smiled. "Can't say he doesn't deserve it, though!"

"Let's hit 'im while we have the chance!" Ribbon loudly exclaimed. "All together now!"

"It appears this irritating irritant has finally fallen to our forces," Darky chimed in, flapping in with his sword pointed at Kracko. "Give the word, and we shall strike!"

There was only one thing we could do, really! "What are we waiting for, then?" I said. _"It's time for some_ _ **mischief!"**_

"Right you are," Dar-Dar agreed. "Let us ravage them, full-stop!"

* * *

 **[N/A]**

Kracko was unrelenting; Kracko was unending. Kracko was a force that couldn't be contained by any means – and he was going to make sure all of the Star Allies knew that intricately.

Quickly, he swooped downward and attempted to ram into Kirby. The pink puffball narrowly slid under him and jammed his closed parasol up his foe's… cloudiness. _(It's not a sword, but it's good enough!_ he thought.) Kirby drilled out of the way once he was out from under Kracko, just as a purple Chilly and Waddle Doo dropped from his mass.

"Where does he house those minions of his?" Dedede asked, both hands clutching his hammer tightly. "You can't tell me he's got his own hammerspace!"

"I wouldn't be very surprised, honestly," Kirby answered. "Cannons, drills, bombs—he's got everything in there!" He opened up his parasol to deflect a Wave Beam flying his way. "Who knows what he picks up when we're not 'round?"

Spears rained from the sky close to the two Mooks, courtesy of Bandana Dee's infinite supply. The blackened Chilly and Doo jumped back to avoid them – before Meta Knight cleaved through them at lightning fast speed.

"Hmph. Compared to facing Parallel Woods and his children, this is underwhelming," he stated. He leered at the lone Kracko in front of him. "I expected a challenge, not a simplistic training session."

"I wouldn't put th-that way, but—y-yeah, I kind of expected more too," Bandana Dee admitted, managing to land on Dedede's back (again). "I feel kinda disappointed."

Unamused by these declarations, Kracko bounced up above and covered the crew's general area. Lightning bolts started coming down "Ooh, I think you two made him mad!" Kirby remarked, his feet dancing past several such bolts, each coming down one after the other. The Chumbrella came back up, but parasols – even strong shield-esque parasols – were hard-pressed to withstand lightning. "Jeez," he winced, "how many volts are these—!?"

Meta Knight batted a few bolts away with Galaxia. "Too much," he replied curtly.

A few blaster shots distracted the terrible thunderhead from continuing his assault. He turned to see Susie and Taranza in front of a pillar, the former's blaster pointed directly at him. "Don't make a move, or I'll exterminate you," she promised.

This particular half of the Unearthly Storm Front didn't take kindly to the CEO's threat. Two of his topmost horns extended up and started forming a big ball of electricity, sparkling aggressively as it grew. Taranza stepped back a bit, noticeably startled – _"S-Susie? Are—Are you sure about—?"_ – but Susie took the action as a challenge.

"If that's what you desire, then so be it! _Prepare to be_ _ **destroyed!"**_ She suited up, and Taranza could only sigh resignedly and latch on before the two fired on all cylinders.

Meanwhile, high above Kracko, Coo was carrying Rick and Kine as far up as he could go. "This better be enough for you, Rick!" the old owl grouched. "You and Kine aren't exactly light!"

"You don't need to ruffle your feathers so much, mate!" Rick replied – looking down, he could see they were directly above the EX Boss, just as he wanted. "This is ace 'nuff for me!"

"Don't mess this up, Rick," Kine simply said. "We're lucky we haven't been spotted yet, so you have to make this count."

"I will!" he assured. "Now— _drop me, Coo!"_

Despite the bird's reservations, he did as his friend said. The orange hamster transformed into a boulder themed after his appearance immediately afterward – and gravity did the rest for him.

Susie's Business Suit skid on the ground after holding back the aforementioned plasma ball with its own arms. "It's almost a shame I couldn't have analyzed this creature in full for our Holo Defense API," its driver lamented. "These attacks would've made for excellent security."

"I dunno 'bout that…" Taranza said. "I wouldn't want th-this guy to guard anything of m- _mine…"_

The lone Kracko kept glaring, his needles getting ready to materialize another deadly projectile. Then he stopped. Some instinct of his led him to look up instead.

What he saw… His iris briefly shrunk in size right before Rick slammed into from above at terminal velocity, squashing the purple cloud flat on the ground. The stars that exploded from Kracko from the point of impact made it clear that he was down for the count. _Shame,_ Susie thought. _Done in so ungracefully… perhaps he isn't fit for my envisioned job after all._

"I think I'm gettin' used to these type of drop-ins!" Rick lampshaded, turning back into his usual form. "I could do this dozen of times and never get tired of it!"

"G-Great job, guys!" Bandana Dee shouted. "That was… great!"

"That means only one foe remains!" Meta Knight declared. "Let us go assist our allies in their current endeavor—!"

Then, two voices cried out: "What are we waiting for, then? _It's time for some_ _ **mischief!"**_

"Right you are. Let us ravage them, full-stop!"

The nine Star Allies looked to the other side of the battlefield. Plumes upon plumes of smoke were engulfing it, and they could see glimpses of their seven companions' heads poking out as the sounds of a boss getting massacred reached their ears. Coo floated down, Kine in two, to see the scene. He was admittedly impressed.

"Now _that's_ something I can get behind!" he proclaimed. "Where do I sign up for it?"

"I swear I've seen that kind of thing before on the Internet…" Dedede muttered, putting a hand to his chin. "But where…?"

A death cloud erupted from the ensuing beat-up, and the other Kracko flew away and laid close to his 'brother' of sorts, his lone eye swirling in disorientation.

"…ah, whatever. It doesn't matter!" he decided. He cupped his hands to his mouth and hollered, "Yo! Not too bad, guys! Seriously, that was pretty explosive!"

"Glad to hear it!" Marx replied, he and his crew rejoining their other partners. "It was a real _blast!_ Kracko was too _shocked_ to see it coming!"

"Ignoring our companion's irksome diction," Dark Meta Knight interjected _("Hey!"),_ "I assume you have managed to triumph over your own foe?"

"In a sense," Kirby answered, "but we can't let our guard down yet." He cautiously pointed a closed parasol at the Krackos' trembling forms. "Kracko won't go down _that_ easily!"

As the Super Tuff Pink Puff spoke, the two halves of Kracko coalesced back into one, and he started to rise into the sky. He started to inflate to even _bigger_ levels, quickly becoming more than twice as large as his two halves were before. Bandana Dee and Taranza had only one thing to say: "Eep!"

"…eep is more than an appropriate response here, I believe," Magolor acquiesced.

When at last Kracko had finished growing, his single eye opened up again – and somehow, he looked even _more_ menacing than before.

Unearthly Thunderhead  
 **Parallel Big Kracko**

The humongous dark crimson cloud trembled violently—not in fear, but with an undying _rage—_ and with his gaze fixed furiously on a certain someone in particular, he _**roared.**_

" _ **KIRRRRRRRBYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"**_

* * *

 **VS. Parallel Big Kracko**

How do you defeat that which is ethereal? Reborn from pure hate and the terrible power of a jet-black sky, Kracko lives again! Tasked with keeping the gate, Kracko is bigger, badder, and more dangerous than ever. Be warned…

* * *

Half the Star Allies jumped at his bellow, but Kirby wasn't alarmed.

"It really is you…!" he simply stated. "Only you would react to me like that!"

"Oh, great!" Dedede groaned. "It just had to be the real him, didn't it…!"

The Unearthly Thunderhead, at last fully coherent and whole, seemed to rumble at the sight of his arch-nemesis. **"I have waited all this time for this moment, puffball. Did you think I would forget all those times I was humiliated!?**

" **That time you smashed into me with your Hi-Jump… that time I was betrayed by Helpers… that time I was replaced by that mechanical cloud…!"** (Inexplicably popping up behind Daroach, Doc looked rather shifty.) A tear threatened to fall from his eye. _ **"Sniff…**_ **I think there's something in my eye… but** _ **NOW!"**_

The sound of thunder echoed through the area, causing the Star Allies to jump again. _**"Now,**_ **I can at last regain the dignity you stole from me! The dignity you and your accursed** _ **friends**_ **took away! AND YOU WILL FALL HERE,"** his whole self began to crackle with electricity, **"CONSUMED BY THE DARKNESS OF THIS ETHEREAL DIMENSION!"**

Kirby opted to exchange his parasol for a katana, using his Copy Essence Deluxes to make the trade. "Sorry, Kracko – you haven't beaten me before, and I'm definitely not going to be beaten now! _Bring it, you terrible lightning rod!"_

Kracko once more swooped in toward Kirby, but the currently-a-ninja puffball poofed away a fair distance and threw bunches of kunai at him. He performed a dual Revolution Beam that almost covered the entire arena, and its sheer range meant that plenty of the Star Allies ended up thoroughly shocked by the EX Boss.

" _A-ACK—!"_

" _You—You little…!"_

" _MY FEATHERS!"_

Kirby, King Dedede, and Bandana Dee all looked at each other, and nodded. Kirby began hopping from pillar to pillar, his elevation rising with every wall jump he took, whereas Dedede Super Jumped between the tops of relatively smaller totems.

" **BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Fear the unparalleled power of the** _ **CLOUD DEMON OF THE SKIES!"**_ the thunderous troublemaker cackled, sending intense lightning bolts down at random individuals. He was tanking hits left and right from all about, but he could afford to take it (for now). **"The Lola Twins and Kabula have NOTHING on me! You hear me? NOTHING!"**

"It looks like Kracko's heart is more corrupted than I had foreseen," Daroach remarked. He brought Storo into the fold, using his subordinate's muscle to power through the devastation. "We may be in for a troublesome affair."

"Don't worry, boss!" the big mouse declared, pumping a fist into the air. "If that happens, I'll protect you!"

"That's fine and all," Coo said, "but that doesn't exactly help us!" He and Kine were using Rick's boulder form as cover (with Gooey acting as a stopper), given that neither of them had any real resistances against Kracko's… Kracko-y-ness. Sticking by Kine's side as he fired a few crescent lasers was the best he could do, while he tried to brush off his being shocked. "Does anybody here have anything to use against this guy!?"

"Please say yes," Kine pleaded, in-between lasers. "I'm a fish. I'm very watery. I'd rather not get zapped to death, thank you."

"Hmph. Allow me." Dark Meta Knight rushed forth to the Animal Buddies' sides, and summoned a large mirror shard above them. Lightning struck it, only to immediately get reflected back into Kracko. "If you shalt need cover, I believe my skills are more than adequate."

" _ **Erk…!**_ **You vermin are more formidable than last time!"** Kracko conceded. He dropped several fire bombs onto Dark Meta Knight's barrier, to no avail. **"When will you learn that you have no chance against this newfound power of mine!?"**

"We won't, because that is a lesson that cannot be taught in the first place," Meta Knight sniped, a well-placed upward stab from the air dealing a fair amount of damage. The demon cloud's eye moved to glower at him as he landed in front of Adeleine, Ribbon, and Marx. "It's _you_ who should learn to become more benevolent."

"What's your beef with all of us, anyway!?" Adeleine demanded. "We've done nothing wrong to you!"

" **Ha! You believe yourself innocent, but you are all blights upon the sky itself! You walk amongst the clouds, ignorant of my presence, acting as if it belongs to you. And as if that weren't bad enough, you continue to disgrace me at every turn!** _ **No more!"**_ He fired a big plasma laser at them, only to be countered by Marx with his own laser beam.

The jester managed to bring the clash to a standstill, the both of them dispersing their attacks soon after. "Disgrace you? Don't make me laugh!" Marx stuck out a tongue at the EX Boss. "You do 'nuff of that with every attempt at 'revenge' you make! Whatever delusions you have, shove it up wherever you keep all your crap! I don't care!"

"That's right!" Ribbon chimed in. "Now leave us alone—" She brandished her Crystal Gun dangerously. "—or we'll _make_ you!" (It wasn't very threatening, but it got the job done.)

" **As if just you four would be enough to defeat me this time!"** Just then, Kracko noticed something. **"…hey! Weren't there more of you here before!? Where the heck did they go!?"**

It took a few more seconds for Kracko to notice his most hated enemy (and two of his most infuriating allies) were missing. He didn't get any more time to think about it before he was slammed from up top by three things at once: Kirby's Blossom Storm, King Dedede's weight, and Bandana Dee's sharp spears made for a potent assault.

" **WHAT!?** _ **WHAT IS THIS—!?"**_

"Just a bit of checkmate, buddy~!" Kirby sang, cherry blossoms flowering around him. Unfortunately for Kracko, his increased size meant he was both a sizeable target and a sizeable platform – meaning the trio of core Star Allies could wallop on him easily with everything they had. Between katanas and hammers and spears, there was a lot of that to go around.

"T-Take this, and this, and this, _and this—!"_

" _Bam! Bam! Bam!_ You feelin' this deluxe package yet!?"

("How savage," Susie drawled. "Ironic, how they prove my late father right."

"Eh, it's not really 'savage'," Magolor interjected. "More like… pragmatic. Like you.")

About half a minute of this later, Kracko began to sparkle dangerously. **"ENOUGH!"** he boomed—and he electrified the trio atop of him. They went flying off the cloud, unceremoniously crashing to the floor in front of their allies.

" _Kirby! Dedede! Dee!"_ Meta Knight dashed to his best friends' side, Adeleine and Ribbon staying back with Marx. "Are you all alright!?"

"We're—We're fine," Dedede panted, pushing himself back up with the pole of his hammer. "Gee, he's really stepped up his game today…!"

"Th-That's saying a _lot…"_ Bandana Dee said, rolling back onto his feet and slouching. "I—I don't wanna know wh-what _else_ he can do…!"

" **You have darkened my doorstep for far too long, Kirby,"** Kracko hissed. **"Every year, every planet, you continue to stand against me. Why is it that you refuse to** _ **die!?**_ **Through the gardens, the mirrors, the towers, and the odysseys—** _ **WHY CAN'T YOU EVER STAY DOWN!?"**_

"Same reason you can't," was Kirby's answer. "I'm too stubborn to let you defeat me for good, ever! Whatever you do, we won't let it stop us from saving the galaxy!"

Kracko huffed. **"That's what you think. You'll be nothing more than scattered mists when I'm finished with you! Now dance to my deadly music, or FRY LIKE A MOTH!** _ **KRRRR-RACKK!"**_ He moved to the edge of the battlefield, alerting the rest of the Star Allies into gathering together. With his power over weather, a strong wind was trying to push them into falling off the arena entirely – and to make matters worse, smaller clouds were sweeping the field with numerous bolts of lightning.

" _Scatter!"_ Meta Knight commanded. The sixteen Star Allies weaved in and out of the airstrike, their enemy guffawing all the while. Again, several cries were going out from them:

" _Curse this empowered knave…!"_

" _H-How am I supposed to fly in_ _ **this**_ _weather!?"_

" _A-A-A-AHHHHHH! S-Sectonia, SAVE ME!"_

Adeleine brought out her canvas and rapidly attempted to draw something to ride. "C'mon, c'mon…!" she frantically muttered. "I gotta get this done…!"

Ribbon clung tightly to her shoulder, her eyes cautiously looking up at the clouds washing over the Star Allies. Her eyes suddenly widened. "A-Addie! W-Watch out!"

 _Three_ clouds clumped together—because of course they were; why _wouldn't_ they be—were closing in on their position, and the artist rushed to finish her drawing of Kracko before it came over them. She barely made it. "Let's go, let's go, let's go—!"

Elsewhere, Magolor was evading the intense voltage and evaluating combat strategies. _The Starcutter Express tactic won't work this time—or anymore, probably,_ he thought, mind whirring with ideas. _My Deadly Needles won't reach him, and I don't have the space to summon a Black Hole. So that leaves…_

A virtual light bulb went off in his head. He quickly glanced at Adeleine and Ribbon flying in the air, and then at Kirby zipping throughout (like a ninja, appropriately). He warped to his friend's side and tapped his nonexistent shoulder. "Kirby!"

It was a testament to the hero's stay focused that he didn't jolt in surprise. "You got a plan, Magolor?"

"Yeah, hear me out. And see if you can get some of the others aboard…"

* * *

" **Cower in fear, mortals! Surrender to your superior!"** Kracko was drunk on power, unsurprisingly, and was milking it for all it was worth. More and more miniature clouds were on the horizon, set to overwhelm the Star Allies before him – but he wouldn't quite be able to get that far.

"Hey, _buddy!"_

He turned around and saw Marx and Gooey, airborne and seemingly taunting him with their mere presence. "Man, you're one lazy lout," the jester mocked. "You're a pretty cruddy 'ruler of the skies' if you're just gonna sit there all day! Come on and face us properly!"

"We have apples and oranges, if that helps," Gooey drooled.

" **You DARE insult me such…!? Very well—** _ **prepare to perish!"**_ Kracko dissipated his thunderstorm in favor of chasing after the two – which was exactly what Magolor wanted.

"You ready for this, Kirby?" he asked. The mage was standing next to both his 'best friend' and Taranza—the former of which was holding an Ultra Sword Magolor summoned, and the latter of which had a Bouncy Web ready to go. Above their heads, Adeleine and Ribbon were riding on their Kracko construct, ready to catch Kirby while the cloud demon wasn't looking.

"Of course!" Kirby replied happily. Unsurprisingly, he was wielding the borrowed Ultra Sword as naturally as anything else, despite the fact he was currently using the Ninja ability.

Magolor nodded, and turned to his other companion. "You ready, Taranza?"

"U-Umm… y-yeah! Yeah, I can do this!"

"Alright, then. Kirby, Taranza, _let's launch!"_

With all his strength, Taranza pushed Kirby upward, the heroic puffball soaring like a dream. It didn't take too long for him to land with Adeleine and Ribbon – and from there, they flew as fast as they could at the EX Boss's exposed back. _"Let's show 'im what we're made of!"_ the fairy promised.

" **Persistent fools…!"** Kracko hissed, plasma orbs shooting straight out of his eye. **"Stop moving and submit to your destruction already!"**

"I'd be a terrible trickster if I just did that~" Marx sang, warping out of the way of said plasma orbs. "You're so invested into this, you don't even realize you've just been tricked!"

"Is that what we were we doing? That sounds interesting."

"… _ **tricked?"**_

Three Crystal Shards suddenly slammed into his back. He whirled one-eighty degrees around—and came face-to-face with the Pink Terror of the Gamble Galaxy himself, beaming as if he wasn't in the middle of a confrontation with his cloudy adversary. And riding alongside him were Adeleine and Ribbon, the former holding the puffball up, the latter clutching her Crystal Gun from before – and both of them fixing their foe with a furious frown.

It was then that Kracko made a startling realization: he was done for.

" _ **You…! KIRBY…!"**_

Kirby's eyes sparkled. "Sayonara, Kracko! Don't get shocked on your way back to Pop Star now!"

" _Go, Kirby!"_ Adeleine tossed him as hard as she could at the demon—and as elegantly as could be done, Kirby slashed Kracko with the humongous blade several times, ending off with one final swing downward through his singular eye. Starlit explosions once more streaked from every crevice of his puffy exterior, it in itself shrinking until only his eye was left. He had just enough time to stare terrified at nothing in particular, a tear again threatening to fall, before he disappeared – presumably, returning all the way back to Pop Star.

Another Heart Spear, cloaked in that familiar florescent pink aura, appeared right where he used to be – and Kirby didn't hesitate to grab it out of the sky as he descended back to ground level. "And that makes two dimensions down!" he triumphantly exclaimed, flipping the ancient artifact into the air. "We're already halfway through this adventure, everybody!"

" _H-HALLEUJAH!"_ Bandana Dee proclaimed, his squeaky voice sounded utterly exhausted and elated. Like the previous EX Boss, he collapsed onto the ground, panting. "P-Please tell me Kracko is the worst we'll have to face…!"

"I can't promise you that, Dee," Dedede said, wiping some sweat from his forehead. "But I don't think that matters right now. What matters is that he's out of the way, and we're one step closer to victory!"

"You said it, Dedede!" The two best friends held up their fists and bumped them together.

"If—If you say so, G-Great King…" The assistant's eyes were drawn to the glowing spear in Kirby's grasp. "H-Hey…" He reached out a hand toward it. "Can I…?"

"Hmm? Oh, sure!" Casually, Kirby tossed the Heart Spear to his headscarf-wearing comrade, whose hands started juggling it in an attempt to keep from dropping it. "I think it's only fair that each of my best friends get to have one of these, so it's yours!"

"U-Umm—Th-Th-Thanks, Kirby!"

"No problem! What are friends for?"

Magolor clapped his hands, eyes closed in happiness. "So—mission accomplished, everybody! Great job, all of you—and great job to me, too. We all did fantastic!"

"And I thought _I_ was the one with the ego," Marx sniggered.

"I can't say he doesn't deserve it, just this once," Dark Meta Knight admitted. "His plans have a habit of improving our situations immensely."

"He _is_ a classic strategist, isn't he?" Daroach agreed. "I wonder what other tactics he can come up on the spot. NOVA knows the next few bosses will probably require more of that expertise…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get it!" Coo retorted. "Can we _please_ stop talking about bosses for a moment? I'm feeling sore all over— _thanks, Kracko—_ and I'd like to relax again before we have to go get beaten up! …again!"

Gooey trudged up to Coo with his tongue out. "Do you need a massage?" he casually asked. "I can give a massage if you need it."

"…you can give massages? Since _when?"_

"Oh, since Dark Meta taught me."

Several heads whirled to face the mirror warrior. A heavy blush was somehow visible through his scarred mask, though he tried to hide it using his gauntlets. "…s-so what? He asked politely, and it is a skill I felt he was worthy to be bestowed. There is nothing else to it!"

"I didn't know you could perform such a vaunted task," Meta Knight said, his tone conveying the idea of an eyebrow being raised. "Interesting."

"Ooooooooh…" Marx dragged out. "Can _I_ have one of those massages of yours, then? I'd _love_ to see your talent, and I'm sure _all the Ultimates back home_ would love to, too~"

Dark Meta Knight's reply was direct: **"No."**

"What about us?" Ribbon asked, making the cutest expression she could right in front of her friend's covered face. (Adeleine giggled, seeing the way she was trying so hard.) "Would you do it for me and Addie?"

"… _ **maybe."**_

"Fascinating…" Susie was jotting down this information with fervent interest. She was not doing so very subtly. "It might be worth adding that feature to our newest model of Stock Mecha Knights…"

And now the two knights were perfectly in sync with each other: **"Don't you dare."**

Dedede laughed boisterously. "Ha ha ha ha! Man, we're all really something else, aren't we?" He smiled brightly. "I think there's one more thing we oughta do before we break for another half-hour, though. You guys agree with me, right?"

Smiles broke out again on many of the Star Allies' faces. Oh, they knew exactly what he was referring to, considering they did it not a dimension prior.

"Do you really have to ask, mate?" Rick rhetorically stated. "You know what we think 'bout it!"

"Guess we should get to doing it, then," Kirby perkily expressed. "C'mon, everybody—let's get in position now!"

* * *

Elsewhere, in Another Dimension…

 _SLASH! (BA-DUMP!)_

 _There was nothing else to it._

 _SLICE! (BA-DUMP!)_

 _She was going to get to her Lord Hyness, whatever it took._

 _SCHWING! **(BA-DUMP!)**_

 _And there was nothing that would keep her from accomplishing her goal._

" _HAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

 _With a stab of Zan Partizanne's spear, she effortlessly tore through the defenses of the rabble that_ dared _to face her, black electricity circling dangerously around the tip of her weapon. The EX Mid-Boss went down in seconds, a noticeable contrast to the minutes-long battles that the mid-bosses had necessitated before._

 _Red eyes – eyes that were once a soft blue – stared coldly at the unconscious form of the fallen Grand Wheelie EX, watching it spark and sizzle and be unable to stand at all. "Hmph._ _ **Pathetic."**_ _She cast it one last glance before deciding to move on. She didn't bother looking to see if her sisters were following;_ if they know what's good for them, _she thought,_ **they'll do as they're told.**

 _She hadn't been this unsympathetic before. Once upon a time, she would've shown a level of concern for most,_ _thanks to her mental condition back then,_ _but time—and more prominently, her darkened heart—had long since changed that fact. Lord Hyness wouldn't have accepted giving kindness to anyone, and she had learned to be the same._ (But wasn't his kindness how she got here to begin with—?)

 _Her black uniform and cream skin were a thing of the past: an angelic attire, blackened skin, and a crimson gaze adorned the once-fragile girl—a showcase of just how far she had fallen in her pursuit of 'what mattered the most'. Her soul, however unintentionally, had been touched by the core of Void Termina – and that gave her a power-up she was more than happy to utilize on her quest._

 _This was borne of the Dark Lord of Despair that Lord Hyness so idolized, after all; and as she herself idolized the savior of both herself and her sisters (though idolized wasn't quite the word she'd use herself), it was only appropriate that she used her newfound authority to annihilate her adversaries. Only she and her sisters were significant in her eyes, and there was no room for additions._ _And then, she'd show that interfering interloper that she didn't_ need _any of his so-called 'friendship'. She didn't;_ not at all!

What does that jamblasted demon know, anyway? _she stewed._ **He** didn't have to go through a literal living hell. **He** wasn't the one torn away from everything he's ever known! He **dares** to think he could ever understand what we went through…? He, who lived on a pretty and peaceful planet all his life…?

Well, he **DOESN'T!**

 _A group of more EX Mid-Bosses—what looked like a group of EX Dubiors—approached the unstable general. With her inner hatred for all things pink flaring up, Zan raised her partisan, and a massive storm cloud surrounded its tip._ **"No mercy!"** _Lime-green electricity—tinged with some of that earlier darkness—came out and violently electrocuted the gatecrashers, leaving them twitching on the ground in pain._

 _That wasn't enough for her, though. She brought out her thunder drums and assaulted them with a litany of electro balls, screaming incoherently all the while. Again and again she blasted the already downed foes, until she was abruptly pulled back by two pairs of hands: Francisca and Flamberge._

" _Zan! Zan,_ stop!" _Francisca pleaded, her expression conveying a lot of desperation. "C-Can't you see they're already defeated!?"_

" _This isn't like you at all!" Flamberge yelled, looking rather strained_ _(Was she trying to fight the influence?_ _ **Couldn't she see how empowering it was…?)**_ _. "I—_ I'm _supposed to be the battle maniac here! Wh-What's_ up _with you!?"_

"' _What's up with you'…?_ _ **Shouldn't it be**_ **me** _ **asking that question?"**_ _The twin siblings stepped back, their elder sister seeming to tower over them—a fact not helped by the fact her thunder drums were still strapped to her back._ "I'm _trying to make sure our_ enemies _don't come back for a second round. They won't give you any clemency._ Nothing _gave us clemency before Lord Hyness._ _ **None of these worthless fools deserve it, can't you see!?"**_

 _Francisca and Flamberge were visibly hugging each other in fear now._

" _S-Sis—th-that's…!" Francisca seemed to have problems spitting out her concern. "You can't just—just decide that all on your own…!"_

 _Flamberge had no such problem. "You can't be that blind to yourself!" she shouted. "Look at yourself—you look completely different! That's not normal!"_

" _I feel completely fine,_ Flamberge," _she sneered._ (Sneered! _At her own_ sisters! _The two almost couldn't believe it…)_ _"And you better be, too. Because we're not going to be stopping for anything." She turned back around and continued on her way, ready to brutally slam down every other EX Mid-Boss—or even EX_ Boss— _that stood in her way. She let an aura of darkness flare up from her skin, concluding the 'conversation' by saying, "So you better learn to use that power we have—_ _ **or you'll be left behind."**_

 _So what if being on the precipice of Another Dimension was warping her very core, in a way she couldn't articulate? Lord Hyness awaited her at the end of the line, and when she found him—when he saw her unwavering determination—he'd most certainly appreciate her efforts. And then, everything would be worth it at last._

 **It's the only thing you're good for, you know,** _that voice—that very,_ very _familiar voice—cooed in her ear._ **Being your master's servant. That's all you'll** **ever** **be—and don't you forget it.**

 _(Meanwhile, the aura Zan Partizanne had expelled had caused Flamberge's already-volatile darkness to start spreading rapidly. The red-haired girl clutched her hand and tried to will it back down. "No, no,_ no, no, **no—!"**

" _B-Berge! H-Hold on, I'll…!" Francisca tried to help too, soothing her beloved sibling wherever she could—but the floodgates had been unleashed. It was growing too fast – and it was only a matter of time before the darkness consumed them the same way it did Zan Partizanne._

" _She—She's not even using nicknames for us anymore…" Flamberge muttered. "Wh-What's happening to us? To_ Zan…?"

" _I…" Francisca could barely respond. "I don't know… I don't know at all…")_

* * *

 **We're halfway to the end, folks! And just before the one-year anniversary of the** Make a Friend **'verse, too! Hoo boy, how time flies!**

 **I'm really getting into the swing of things now – though it's definitely gonna take a while longer to reach the end. I'd like to get back to** _ **Are You a Friend, Too?**_ **sometime and all, but there was a lot of stuff preventing this chapter from coming out earlier. Like a whole list of other stories that came first. And schoolwork. Lots of schoolwork. And we can't forget** _ **Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth**_ **finally coming out. (That game is a lotta fun, lemme tell you.)**

 **Zan Partizanne's backstory is really depressing, seriously: in the middle of a freak storm, she climbed up a deadly tower, desperately pursuing some sort of purpose (implied in her JP bios to be** _ **suicide—**_ _ **yikes!**_ _ **)**_ **—and in the end, she was struck by lightning and nearly killed right then and there. And it's explicitly stated she was on her last breath before Hyness came in. That's…** _ **really**_ **something else, even by** _ **Kirby**_ **lore standards. I hope this flashback sequence captures the depression and anxiety I'd wager Zan was feeling – and don't worry. Things'll… lighten up a little, for the next couple of chapters.**

 **I don't give enough of a spotlight to the Animal Buddies, and that's by no fault of their own – it's just that I've got more of an affinity for every other Dream Friend, and their dynamics and character beats are so much more interesting to write in my opinion. In spite of that, I hope I've managed to do them justice with this fic, to make up for my focus on everyone else. This** _ **is**_ **a** _ **Star Allies**_ **fic, after all, not a** _ **'Star Allies**_ **minus the Animal Buddies' fic. Admittedly, it was pretty difficult to write Rick's POV this chapter, so I hope his inner struggles and hopes come across well enough.**

… **as a side note, that dumb door puzzle is just… really dumb and poorly communicated. If you've read OwlsCantRead's** _ **Double Jump of Destiny,**_ **then you'll probably understand what I'm talking about. I had to cheese it by abusing co-op and off-screen teleportation, which is not good at all.**

 **Speaking of writing character beats: Gooey's status as a Cloudcuckoolander and Marx's prankster-slash-gadfly were really interesting to write, something I haven't really touched upon in my other first-person POVs (except maybe Marie in the** _ **A Goddess in Reality**_ **series, in relation to the latter). If there's anything good about writing so many perspectives, it's the chance to experiment and really delve into the minds of each and every Star Ally, examine the nuances in the way they think. And I've still got at least six more Dream Friends to go~**

 **Parallel Kracko was a surprise on my first encounter with him—first a reprise of the twin part of the original fight, and then a gigantic Kracko at his absolutely deadliest. That hit me and my brother** _ **hard—**_ **and much like Parallel Woods, we lost our fair share of lives at him. He** _ **definitely**_ **deserves his place as the Gamble Galaxy's ruler of the skies – and his clash with the Star Allies was as fun to write as it was fun to play. (…wait, that doesn't sound right…)**

 **You might have noticed that he also gets dialogue compared to Parallel Woods. That's because, as the boss descriptions hints, Parallel Kracko** _ **is**_ **Kracko, not an Another Dimension counterpart. As** _ **Kirby: Triple Deluxe**_ **says,** "As long as the clouds still hang in the sky, Kracko will never give up the fight!" **—so it's only natural I showcase that by properly bringing him into the fold. Hey, it makes for a more interesting boss fight, so no complaints here!**

 **Also: last chapter, as you could tell, had a couple references to** _ **Sonic Forces.**_ **Can you guess what piece of fiction I ended up referencing here…?**

 **Well, that's all for now – tune in next time when we move on to the third dimension—and subsequently, the Wave 2 Dream Friends!** _ **HECK YEAH!**_


	5. What Matters the Most

**Star Allies, Unite!**

 _ **Chapter 5  
**_ _What Matters the Most_

(Uploaded on April 4, 2020)

* * *

 **Summary:** Sometimes, as chaos upends the stability holding your life in place, all you need to do in order to stay grounded is to remember the things that keep you fighting. Adeleine, Ribbon, Dark Meta Knight, and Daroach know this fact well—and so long as their hearts stayed connected, braving Another Dimension may be possible for them to see through to the end.

(Elsewhere, on all fronts, the dimensional flux continues to build and build, despite the Star Allies' best efforts. And though it remains localized to Jambandra Base, that doesn't mean the danger is decreasing at all…)

 **Notes:** This chapter covers all of _Heroes'_ third level, **Dimension III**. (Happy late second anniversary to _Kirby Star Allies!_ Sorry for the wait, y'all!)

* * *

" _Bonjam! Welcome, dear sisters, to_ _ **Jambandra Base!**_ _It is my humble lor—or, as you would say in your language, my paradise!"_

" _Wh-Whoa…"_

" _Alright! This is_ cool!"

" _Is—Is this…_ real…?"

 _Before Hyness and the three elemental sisters was an absolutely breathtaking sight: they were at the entrance to a huge, technological stronghold, which could best be described as a massive downward spire with several red blinking lights. Orbiting around the spire were rings comprised of full circles or half-completed ones, and these odd fortresses could be seen doing the same. The top of a tower hovering high above where the roof should be, giving the place a little bit of mystique despite its high-tech exterior._

 _It was unlike anything the trio had ever seen in their lives._

" _This… This is your_ home, _Mr. Hyness?" Francisca breathed, her arms falling slack by her sides. "It's—It's incredible!"_

" _Man, you could fit, like, a dozen planets in here and still have room to move more!" Flamberge said. "Maybe even the entire_ galaxy, _too!"_

 _Zan Partizanne didn't have any words, herself—Jambandra Base had utterly floored her in more ways than one._

 _Hyness chuckled good-naturedly. "Impressed, are you? It is not goppoko vun. One does not come across a home of this magnitude every day." He started to walk through the doors, gesturing for the girls to follow him in. "Come, now—there is much I wish to show you! Don't be shy!"_

 _Shaking off most of their shock, they proceeded to do as he requested, practically tripping over themselves in their rush to catch up to their personal savior. Down a circular elevator they went, the length of the descent helping to add to the sheer size of this virtual palace. The sisters couldn't help but whisper excitedly to each other about it—what kind of rooms were in here? How many floors were there? Did Mr. Hyness have a super-secret hidden lair?_

… _what? That was a perfectly reasonable question to ask!_

 _Anyway… as they continued through the fortress, they noticed a few other people hanging about: little orbs with big purple caps and scarves, and limbs detached from their main bodies. They were noticeably performing a variety of menial tasks, and were something of a surprise to see, given the sisters' impression of Hyness living alone._

 _Speaking of whom, the mage had perked up when Flamberge brought it up. "Ah, these are my servants, the Jambelievers! They have been with me for quite a long time! Upkeeping this place is difficult, since it is so big – so I am glad to have had them helping me with these tasks."_

" _You have your own_ servants?" _Francisca asked, twinkling stars in her eyes. "And you work alongside them? You're even greater than I thought, Mr. Hyness!"_

" _W-Well, it is not anything too special," he humbly said. "We are merely doing our parts so that we can continue engaging in our livelihoods."_

" _That's still a lotta crap to go through!" Flamberge replied, though not without a hint of awe herself. "Seriously, it'd take me a month to clean this castle all by myself!_

" _Like you'd even_ want _to do it in the first place," her twin sniped._

" _Hey! I can do chores when I have to! I—I just think there's b-better things to do with my time, that's all!"_

 _Zan quietly giggled. Despite everything they've been through, her younger sisters were the same as ever. That… That was a relief._

 _Though, looking around at the Jambelievers in this glorified fortress, she couldn't help but feel as if everyone's eyes were on her. Observing her,_ judging _her—seeing her as nothing more than someone to place pity on. She may have had mastery over electricity now, but she was still so unproven—did she truly deserve the honor of being invited here by Hyness—?_

 _Eventually, the quartet of mages reached the core of the station, wherein they found the most wondrous sight of all: a humongous altar, blooming with flowers and vines situated at the edge of the circular platform around them. At the end of the altar lay a cradle themed after a butterfly's cocoon, and a beautiful night sky helped to illuminate the area, helped along by a symbol lit up and pulsating on the ground._

 _The three newcomers were speechless._

" _This is the most important room in the entire galaxy," Hyness said, voice tinged with passion. "This is the_ _ **Divine Terminus**_ _—the sanctuary sanctioned by the high progenitor god himself! It is a gift given from the depths of his heart, to reward the followers who remember him still."_

" _High pro… progen… pro-whatsit god?" Flamberge repeated, an eyebrow thoroughly raised. "Heck is that? He your dad or something?"_

"Berge!" _Zan hissed. "Don't say that to Mr. Hyness!"_

" _It's fine, it's fine," Hyness laughed it off. His amusement at Flamberge's confusion was very palpable. "The galaxy has long since forgotten the tales of his time, so it is not surprising you have not heard of him. I myself do not get many opportunities to speak of his grace… so I hope you will not mind if I go on a little tangent here."_

" _Oh no, we'd love to hear it!" Francisca butted in, interest levels about as high as her twin sister's skepticism. "You've been so nice; it's only right that we listen to what you have to say!"_

 _The redheaded girl shrugged. "Eh, we've already seen how weird you can be. Hearing out a little more weirdness won't hurt!"_

 _Zan hesitated for a moment, before silently agreeing to let her savior talk. She didn't know why, but her heart… her heart told her that this was the right thing to do._

" _Jamanke, you three. Now, let me begin my tale." The mage cleared his breath, and filled his voice with an mystical air._

" _A long, long time ago, before the galaxy as we knew it came to be, an Astral Birth brought a powerful deity into being. In his short time in this universe, he introduced many of the concepts of our universe: most importantly_ _ **the matters of Dream, Dark, Soul, and Heart**_ _. He disappeared soon after conceiving them… but my ancestors never forgot his legacy. They set up a religion to honor his legacy, vowing to live in the art of magic rather than science." He seemed a little grumpy, remembering that last bit, but continued on without missing a beat._

" _For a time, we of the Jambandra religion co-existed with the Ancients of Halcandra. They regarded our god,_ _ **Void Termina**_ _, as nothing more than a possible Destroyer of Worlds—and treated us as trash for embracing his ways! And then… even though the Jambandrans never stopped aiding their technological brothers,_ even though _we helped stop_ _ **that repulsive nightmare of a galactic crisis**_ _… the Ancients had the_ audacity _to banish us to the far reaches of the universe! Can you believe that!? How RUDE!"_

" _Yeah, you tell 'em!" Flamberge piped up._

 _Hyness was getting truly worked up now, his passion for his subject captivating the audience in front of him. "And if that wasn't bad enough, the records of both us and them were erased—all because of their own shortsightedness! It makes me FURIOUS! I shall never forgive them! I shall_ never _forget their transgressions! But…" He allowed himself a few seconds to calm down. "…the Age of Eternity has long since ended. We live in better times. We can redeem the reputation of Void Termina, spread his teachings to different planets, and let his generosity rain down over the Gamble Galaxy. Th-That's what I want to do, at least."_

" _So…" the lightning-aligned girl whispered. "You do what you do… all in his name?"_

 _Hyness nodded. "Oh, jes jes! He would want his followers to be kind and helpful to all—it would give him much jorrow if we weren't! I am vun jhappy to do such jhappy things, as I think everyone deserves to have a little bit of kindness in their life." He beamed proudly. "And I am glad that you three get to have that, too."_

 _Francisca and Flamberge gave off a similarly wide smile, reaching as far as their cheeks. Zan's was more subdued, but it was just as present as her siblings' ones._

" _Wow… That—That sounded_ sooooo cooooooool!" _Francisca gushed. "You're like a regular everyday hero, Mr. Hyness!"_

" _I suppose I am! I just wish that there were more of us in this galaxy." He sighed, and started slouching in long-worn loneliness. "The Jambandra Religion is much smaller than it used to be. There is only me now, and my faithful servants to keep me company throughout my travels. Perhaps one day, we will be able to rise again—but until then, I will continue to aid people however I can. That… will have to be enough."_

 _The wizard went silent in contemplation, and the three colorful sisters looked at each other with a combination of concern and curiosity._

 _Zan Partizanne was warring with herself. On one hand, this was Hyness's problem—and he had stated that he was more or less okay with his current circumstances. He didn't need a clueless child like her to muck things up, to ruin everybody's happiness with her own mistakes—_

 _And yet… there was a burning desire within her to become worthy of Hyness's gratitude. To give her efforts to those who deserved greater than what she was worth._

( **Better that than to be a waste of space, eating up all his resources.** )

 _So, with that in mind…_

" _I'll help."_

 _Hyness blinked. "Juh?"_

 _Zan stepped up, her petite face stepped in a frightening determination. "I—I'll help you. With whatever it is you want to do."_

" _You don't need to do that, Zan Par!" he assured her. "You are still so young, and it can be so very dangerous out there! No one would think any less if you simply spent all your jaitties here instead…"_

" _I—I don't want to be a burden, Mr. Hyness. You saved all three of us, s-so I should at least try to repay you."_ ( **That way, you won't see how big of a mistake you've made, taking her in.** ) _"A-And besides, you gave me lightning magic; I—I can protect you and my sisters with it! If you can help me learn how to use it, then th-things won't be so bad!"_

" _We'll join as well!" Francisca chimed in, with a great big smile on her cheeks. "We can't let our older sister do this alone!"_

" _Yeah, that's right!" Flamberge agreed, her fiery enthusiasm contrasting nicely with her twin's cheerful demeanor. "Plus—I can literally be on_ **fire** _now! Do you know how awesome that is!? No way in heck I'm skimping out learning how to do that!"_

" _Berge, you are_ not _going to be setting yourself ablaze!" Zan whirled on her. "That's—That's just irresponsible!"_

" _Come on, Zan! Wouldn't_ you _like to be able to be all laugh-y and firing thunder from your hands?"_

" _It's_ lightning, _and—a-and that's not the point!"_

 _Meanwhile, Francisca looked like she was considering the advantages of being able to summon a cold blast wherever she went._

 _It should be noted her eyes were sparkling about as much as her siblings'._

" _I do suppose having control over your new powers is a necessity," Hyness relented. "And Void Termina would most certainly appreciate more people following the ideals he set. Very well, then!" He with clapped his robed hands. "I will teach you three how to be exquisite, jawaii mages—and then we shall travel the galaxy together, giving friendship to whoever is in need. Does that sounds good?"_

" _Yes, Mr. Hyness!" the children replied, simultaneously._

 _Hyness's eyes lit up in happiness. "I have little experience in being a teacher, I will admit—and even less in being a guardian. But for you three, who have brightened up my life with your mapop… I do believe that this will be an experience I shall never forget!"_

* * *

 **Jambandra Base  
The Divine Terminus – Altar**

"Hey—look, everyone!" Chef Kawasaki pointed a finger at a suddenly spawning Warp Hole; the Helpers at the entrance to the altar jolted and whipped around to look. "Kirby's comin' back!"

" _Yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!"_ Poppy Bros. Jr. cheered. "Ooh, ooh, I wonder what friends he's bringing this time! Do you think we'll get to see Vividra, or Como, or—or maybe _Driblee!?"_

"I don't think it matters, so long as we get to see our friends again," Waddle Doo supplied. "Not to mention, we could really use their help keeping a hold over Jambandra Base…"

"Tell me about it," Burning Leo muttered. "I haven't been this tired in a long time, Fire powers or not…"

Just like before, the sixteen Star Allies elegantly dropped out of the portal, looking no worse for wear than last time. "Phew—this adventure hasn't been all that shabby!" the lead puffball exclaimed. "We'll get things done today and be back for a nap in no time!"

" _Woooooooooo!"_ Ribbon cheered. _"Sweet Kirby pillow, I'm coming for you!"_

"I like naps," Gooey said, drooling per usual. "Spending naps with friends is the best. We should take a nap when we're done with this."

"I—I think th-that'd be nice," Taranza sighed. "It's been a l-long few hours already, and I'd _really_ p-prefer it if we—wh- _whoa,_ what the heck happened here while we were gone!?"

In contrast to the more subtle alterations from last time, the Divine Terminus had radically transformed: the interstellar skies had turned golden and cloudy; and the background architecture, bizarrely enough, had flipped upside down, fragments of it falling down into the abyss below. Some kind of light was shining down onto the altar, drawing notice toward the blooming flowers and red crystalline protrusions decorating the outer rim of the arena.

It was this spectacle that the four Helpers set on Another Dimension exploration duty—Ceri, Gim, Bugzzy, and Driblee—returned to, accompanied by Blade Knight and Bio Spark, the latter two having been re-recruited on the way back to the fortress. For a moment, they confusedly wondered what it was their friends were staring at—and once they caught a glimpse, they too were stunned silent by the sight.

" _Guh—!? This is—how!?"_ Dark Meta Knight gawked.

"I—I c-can't—" Ceri stammered. "H-Has NOVA cursed us to be followed by Another Dimension _everywhere_ now!?"

"DOES-NOT-COMPUTE. DOES-NOT-COMPUTE," Gim intoned, mechanical eye whirling wildly. "READINGS-OF-AREA-REPORT-MAGIC-LEVELS-OFF-THE-SCALE. THIS-PLACE-LOOKS-LIKE-GRAVITY-AND-THE- _SUN-_ HAD-A-FIELD-DAY-WITH-IT. _WHAT-IS-GOING-ON."_

It didn't take Magolor long to explain this abnormality, once he opened his custom 3DS again. "We're closing the rifts, but that can't stifle what's already leaked out from them," he hypothesized. "Add in the pre-existing latent energies from the Jambandra Cult's past endeavors…"

Bandana Dee gulped. "P-Please tell me th-that's not gonna make things _worse…!"_

"Th-That's not all, lads," Coo breathed, his gaze pointed at the floor. "Look down—isn't that…"

The most startling change of all, perhaps, was the pool that had emerged in the center of the platform, surrounded by now indigo tiles… a pool depicting a dark blue sky with soaring black clouds.

"…the Hyper Zone?"

A variety of words went unspoken as those in the know came to terms with what they were seeing.

"…it is," Kine confirmed, equally disturbed. "Dark Matter, Void Termina, Another Dimension… wha—just what exactly did Hyness _do_ here?"

" _Kirby! Ceri, Gim, Bugzzy, Driblee—_ _ **everyone!"**_

The backup crew charged onto the scene, reuniting with their fellow Helpers.

Bugzzy, in spite of his earlier shock, broke out into a grin and embraced his friends. "Oh ho ho ho! I knew I'd be seeing you youngins' eventually!" he chuckled, clicking his pincers enthusiastically. "How's life been treating y'all?"

"Pretty good, actually!" Waddle Doo answered. "Aside from the whole world-ending crisis going on, of course. I could do without that."

" _Poppy!"_ Driblee was hugging Poppy the tightest, tears literally streaming from his eyes—the former being an impressive fact, given his lack of upper body strength. _"Oh dear NOVA, it feels like it's been_ _ **forever!"**_

"Whoa, whoa, _Dribs!_ You're—You're a lot clingier than normal!" Poppy replied,happily reciprocating his action. "Something happen while you were in there?"

He sniffled. "K-K-Kinda…"

"Right!" King Dedede clapped his hands, and everyone immediately snapped to attention. "Looks like us three parties have a _lot_ of stuff to catch up on—Another Dimension's influence on the outside world, any information may our scouts have picked up on, why there are suddenly Jambandra people again…" He pointed a thumb at the circle of Jammerjabs and Jambelievers watching from the edges of the platform.

(Rick blinked, him and the twenty-one other recent arrivals realizing their presence. "Gee," he grimaced, "and here Ithought _we_ had it rough. They're 'bout ready to dash!"

Adeleine's eyes glimmered with pity. "They're still here, despite everything… do they owe _that_ much to Hyness, even if he's so—so terrible?")

"So, yeah. We're gonna need all the goods—'cause I don't know about you, but I'm tired of stuff catching us off-guard."

"Like the weather, or Gem Apples raining from the sky," Susie snarked.

* * *

"So, while we were looking after Jambandra Base, we started to wonder where all the Jambandra people went," Waddle Doo began. "We got some of His Majesty's Dees and Squeakers on the job, and lo and behold, we found them holed up in the basement, waiting out the storm and praying for survival.

"Apparently, they were ordered to keep to their usual schedule by the Three Mage-Sisters at all costs, but the gathering storm made them too panicked to… well, even _function_ properly. Jennifer—say hi, Jen!—" The aforementioned Star Ally waved next to one of her old squadmates, still wearing her friend's Staff ability hat in lieu of her old beret. "—was close by when she heard what was going on, so she went back in and herded them to the lower levels for safety. She'd help them leave, but… for some reason, they don't want to."

"Forever devoted to their duties, I see," Dark Meta Knight said. "Commendable, if foolish."

"So, behind our enemies' exterior lies some traces of honor…" Blade Knight considered. "It doesn't excuse what they've allowed to persist, but I suppose not everyone is a one-dimensional villain."

"They're—They're sticking w-with what's familiar, 'c-cause… it's all they've got," Taranza quietly mused. "I think I can sympathize. Sometimes, life can—can just feel like a burden weighing on your soul. And… wh-who knows if there'll be anyone else to give you hope…?"

King Dedede and Bandana Dee shared a glance at each other, and then at the circle of mooks trembling and looking like they wanted nothing more than to run, loyalty to their masters staying their feet. The Jambelievers' eyes were darting back and forth between the Warp Holes and their erstwhile enemies, and the Jammerjabs appeared to be barely persevering past their fears as they tightened their grips on their staffs.

"Talk about a twisted mirror…" the regent muttered, flashes of a worn sunset path coming to mind. His faithful assistant shivered, the same thought ringing through his own head.

 _And that's not the only thing bugging me._ Kirby thought. _I can tell—they've got no idea what to do about_ _ **any**_ _of this._

 _On our end,_ _ **we've**_ _been dealing with stuff like this for over twenty-five years, Helpers included. And I'd wager even the employees at the Haltmann Works Company would have a good grasp on things, given all the technology at their disposal._

 _These guys… they're just ordinary minions caught up in something far beyond them. And they don't have Hyness or the Mage-Sisters to give them any aid, either._

"…nobody should have to go without a helping hand like that," Kirby said aloud. "Nobody."

"G-Gee, I'm feeling pretty sorry for them now," Driblee gulped—"and th-they haven't seen all the stuff we d-did…!"

Everyone turned to the six Helpers previously sent off to search, who were shuddering in fear from his words. "We nearly ran afoul of magical monstrosities," Ceri insisted—"a host of winged behemoths with a scream that could pierce the heavens. We only saw their shadows, b-but… I could tell they were not to be trifled with."

"It took all the skills I and Ceri had in covertness to keep us hidden from their observant eyes," Bio Spark added.

Susie recognized that description instantly. She clenched her hands into fists and struggled to keep her composure. " **Sphere Doomers** …" she hissed.

"Crap, that's right," Kirby recalled. "Sphere Doomers are naturally-forming entities in Another Dimension—of _course_ they'd start acting up as a result of everything going on."

"W-Was—Was it too much t-to hope that we'd—we'd never have to see them a-again?" Bandana Dee groaned. "There were—There were _way_ too m-many of them before…!"

"I'm… gonna guess they'd wouldn't be receptive to having a meal and leaving us alone," Chef Kawasaki frowned.

Daroach lowered his top hat over his eyes. "Sadly for us… hearts are not stolen so easily, especially those that are blackened and crusted. We have our work cut out for us, it seems."

"That is unfortunate," Meta Knight cut in. "Our own stint through this latest dimension was already no cakewalk—Between the devious puzzles and platforming, the likes of which would stifle even the hardiest adventurers. And that is not even speaking of the powered-up Kracko awaiting us at the end, a far cry from the expected mindless shadow of the Jamba Heart." He closed his eyes and hummed lowly. "We must stay vigilant, more than we've already been—lest we find ourselves in an untenable position."

"Eh, we'll just take things as they happen," Marx shrugged. "Nothing we can do about it, so let's not waste time thinking about boring 'what if's'!"

"Couldn't have put it any better myself, mate," Rick said.

* * *

 **Two**. A simple, innocuous number. A number that, in any other situation, wouldn't mean much more than 'greater than one' or 'sequel' or et cetera.

In this case, though, two was the quantity of Warp Holes still open for the Star Allies to close. Two additional dimensions to traverse and triumph over—each towering with their own terrible trials and terrors to face.

"Are you sure you guys don't want to have a quick lunch break before you go?" Chef Kawasaki asked, his cooking pot boiling beside him and emitting a strong, delicious scent. It was almost enough to make the frontrunning team of heroes want to stop and savor it, if only for a little bit. "It's good to take care of yourselves, y'know!"

"Even battle-hardened warriors need rest to freshen their bodies and minds," Bugzzy sagely advised, a half-eaten apple in his mouth.

"Yeah, what he said!" Poppy piped up.

"Hey, we'll be fine!" Dedede grinned, his trusty hammer slung over his shoulder as usual. He and the other Star Allies were opposite of the third Warp Hole of the day, mentally preparing for the journey ahead. "Time's of the essence, as Meta Knight would put it—" The Lone Swordsman grunted, Galaxia gleaming in his hand. "—so we'll deal. 'Sides—if our hunger levels get _that_ bad, Kirby and Adeleine's got things handled!"

The aquamarine artist nodded, waving her paintbrush around with a smile. "I've got enough paint to last us an eternity, don't you fret! I can spare the time to draw a few snacks, if we really need it!"

Kirby had something in his hands, as well: an ordinary frying pan and a rather thick cookbook, the former being noticeably clean and clearly well-cared for. "Don't forget 'bout me~!" he sing-songed. "I know a ton of recipes myself, and I've got a magic pot of my own! I gotta be using that specific Copy Ability first, but— _details!"_

"…why are you carrying those two items around with you?" Susie asked, flummoxed in spite of herself. "Surely, it would be simpler to carry prepackaged provisions or so…"

"Food is universal," Gooey drooled. "Food is everywhere. If you have a kitchen wherever you go, you can make good food wherever. That's how I see it."

"Bah! It's 'cause that kinda stuff's for _plebeians,_ obviously," Marx waved off. "Why do that when you can be _extra! Go the distance; crash the stars!_ _ **Reach as high as you can go!"**_

"But not so high that you end up floating aimlessly through space," Magolor chirped.

"Uh-huh! That would suck, especially if you can't fly," the clown sniggered.

"And if you run out of gas partway through a cruise."

"That's… a rather suspiciously specific situation," Ribbon noted, eyes narrowed.

"…I don't wanna talk about it."

"To answer your question, Susie," Kirby spoke up, "I only have so many Copy Essence Deluxes to go around," he said. "All things considered, they're pretty rare to find; most Copy Essences are bolted where they stand. So I work with what I have. A spare microphone for Mic, a bar of soap for Bubble, a stethoscope for Doctor—"

"D-D-Don't forget a p-pillow for Sleep!" Dee sassed him.

"…yyyyyyeah. That too." He shot a deadpan stare at his third best friend. The little assistant giggled in response, briefly imitating the puffball sleep-fighting.

"I see," the secretary-turned-president muttered, conveniently ignoring the other responses. "That certainly lends greater context to your leadership position, aside from what I've already identified."

"Anyway," the hero nodded, "we'll be fine. Helpers, you know the drill—stick together, don't go it alone, and keep watching out for any danger coming outta here. We'll be back in another hour-and-a-half, so stand your ground 'til then!"

A confident grunt of affirmation echoed from the eleven present Helpers, in addition to some of the nearby Jambandra troops courageous enough to answer. "Just make sure you do the same, guys," Waddle Doo said, looking stern in spite of her cyclops appearance. "I'm serious—I'd rather not have to patch you up; same for everyone else."

"AND-PLEASE-DO-BRING-LESS-ANNOYING-ALLIES-WITH-YOU," Gim droned, very pointedly not looking at Ceri. "I-WOULD-RATHER-NOT-HAVE-TO-DEAL-WITH-MORE-TRICKSTERS-AND-PERFORMERS-THAN-NECESSARY."

" _I do hope you aren't talking about me. I can still affect you with my powers, you know."_

"Well, we can't guarantee either, exactly," Kine said, "but we'll do our best to come out without attracting too much trouble."

"If it makes you feel any better, we can have a party together, once we get back to Pop Star!" Ribbon smiled—"A party with an all-you-can-eat buffet and as many party games as we can get set up!"

Ooh's and aww's filled the air; parties involving Kirby's friends, be it only some of them or all of them, were always the highlight of the year, whenever they occurred. (Taranza was notably nervous but hopeful about this; Susie was simply curious at what this entailed.)

"We'll hold you to it," Burning Leo said. "Good luck, everyone, and show this cult what you're made of!"

"Can do!" Kirby replied. "Alright, Star Allies! You know what they say… **third time's the charm!"**

* * *

 **Another Dimension  
Dimension III**

Long acclimated to the dazzling disorder of Another Dimension's fluctuating environment by now, the Star Allies wasted no time in rising up toward the first of their next five Hero Trials. The passageway this time, much to the adventurers' collective annoyance, took the form of a fragmented, zigzagging elevator, moving up and up and forcing them to stay on their toes… lest they accidentally be left behind.

Oh, and did I mention that they had to do it on tiny, ascending platforms?

" _Ughhhhhhhh,"_ Coo groaned. The sixteen party numbers had thus far spent the last few minutes starting and stopping and waiting and… well, just waiting, honestly. "Jeez, if you're going to make an elevator," he grumbled, _"actually make a proper elevator._ Can't we fly up instead and skip dealing with this nonsense?"

"It's best not to tempt fate with worse possibilities to put in our path," Meta Knight hummed. "We could attempt to chart a course up using our own strength—but there, we run the risk of something attacking us while we have little time to react. It's better to endure a few minutes of anticipation than a few minutes of unprepared panicking."

"There's a certain charm, anyway, in being able to gather your thoughts like this," Daroach said, calmly tapping his feet against the floor. "It's a luxury we can ill afford—after all, it's the prerogative of all treasure hunters and Star Allies to stay focused in any situation."

"Right… _'focused'…"_ The Animal Trio's eyes moved to King Dedede… who had, in his boredom, whipped out a Nintendo 3DS. And unsurprisingly, it was booted up to—of course— _Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe._ He had attracted an audience as well; Star Allies being Star Allies, a good chunk of them—Kirby, Dee, Gooey, Adeleine, Magolor—had gathered around to watch his performance.

"There's a lot of drums," Gooey idly remarked. "Those drums are very bouncy. Shouldn't they break from the bounciness?"

"They technically do," Kirby replied—"those purple ones certainly aren't up for this kind of challenge. For that matter, _I_ don't think I'd be up for this kind of challenge – I prefer my experiences to be either casual or competitive. Or cooperative. One of those three."

"You said it, K-Kirby!" Bandana Dee chimed in. "It's—It's pretty a-amazing, then, h-how Great King can handle this! I, uh… think I'd need _plenty_ of help for that…"

"Ooh, I'm actually in this! Look there!" Magolor pointed out his cameo, swinging on-screen to obscure part of the play area. He squinted his eyes and tilted his head. "Huh. I don't remember having any carpets like that. Strange colors, too—purple definitely isn't my thing."

Adeleine put a hand to her chin and pondered the color scheme for a moment. " _Mmmmm…_ yeah, it's kind of garish," she agreed. "Might be better if it was blue, or at least a darker shade of violet. I'd need a closer look at it to tell, though…"

"I have no idea what y'all are saying right now," Dedede deadpanned, his brain solidly centered on his little session. He walked off the platform he was on and onto the next, eyes not moving from the screen—and then he flinched, his likeness in-game tumbling off a skewer and into a bottomless pit.

"Dang it!" he grumbled, his fairly decent run ruined in an instant. "So close! This unholy dimension's screwin' with my concentration! …eh, I'll give this one more try."

Three pairs of eyes looked back to Daroach, who was chuckling at the sight. "Well, I never said that wasn't a 'situation' in and of itself," he said.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say our victories were the result of a fluke rather than skill," Meta Knight similarly acknowledged. "I see it as… a testament to the strength of our hearts, that our friendships can synthesize with our abilities; that we can allow ourselves such distractions and still remain capable of saving the day."

"Heh heh—when you put it that way, I s'pose it ain't the worst thing in the world," Rick said. "It's like a little bit of home came here with us."

"A little bit of home we'd fight tooth and nail to keep," Kine added, his eyes closed in contemplation. "We may not be the best animals for this job—but no matter how small our contributions may be, I know there's nowhere else I'd rather be."

"I think the same can be said for all of us," Daroach smirked. "After all—nobody ever said the heroes have to stand alone in their mission." The heads of his loyal Squeak Squad—Doc, Spinni, and some other Squeakers—popped up behind him, reaffirming the ideals sparkling from his soul.

Meta Knight smiled behind his mask, their expressions reminding him greatly of the Meta-Knights he found himself so proud of. "That much, we can agree is correct."

For the world that they cherished, for the friends that they'd give their all for… there could be no hesitation aligned in their hearts—not at all. So that everyone could continue living as happily and carefree as they loved to be, even if the universe at every turn sought a different outcome altogether… they'd stop the Jambandra Cult in their tracks, or die trying.

As Star Allies, they couldn't do anything less.

…

…

…

"I'd still rather us be flying past these platforms, though."

"We know, Coo. We know."

* * *

 **Dimension III – First Hero Trial**

Powerful gusts of wind blew through the corridor, pushing the Star Allies forward and leaving them on the verge of face-planting if they didn't hold their ground. Above, a layer of lava lay plastered on the ceiling, raining down hot fireballs on their already-unbalanced feet – not the best combination to bring to the table, as the crew was rapidly discovering.

"A-And here I th-thought _Dangerous Dinner_ had fireballs to spare…!" Bandana Dee cried, covering Kirby and Dedede with a Chumbrella held tightly in both hands. "Wh-Why is there always _something_ up with this dimension!?"

"'Cause no one can resist the allure of the almighty Sizzle element, not even non-sentient dimensions!?" Dedede growled, gritting his teeth. He prayed that the upscaled Parasol would serve as sufficient protection—there wasn't a whole lot of room to use his Bluster'd hammer, much to the king's chagrin. And he didn't fancy getting torched while huddled up against those stone block barriers. "Kirby, how's your Geokinesis stint doing!?"

The aforementioned puffball had his eyes closed and his hands raised, electrical energy emanating from his body. "I'm doing my best," he said, features pressed into a stressed scowl— _all this careful movement is_ _ **so**_ _not my thing!_ "I dunno how much you can see, but it ain't easy getting Gooey through this little strip!"

Gooey, currently taking the form of a stone statue, was being levitated through a veritable valley of lethal lava and rhythmic crushers. As usual, there was a discernably joyful look on his frozen face; either he was simply ignorant of the incredible danger, or he implicitly trusted Kirby to get the job done – both choices which said a lot about his character.

In any case, all Kirby needed was enough time to get the adorable little blob through this claustrophobic mess. And speaking of which…

"We shouldn't have too much longer to go, though!" the puffball said. "If I can get Gooey past this last set of crushers, we'll be home-free!"

"P-P-Please hurry up…" Bandana Dee trembled—"this is g-getting bad for my nerves…!"

From behind the trio thick as thieves, the rest of the Dream Friends were gathered up and fending off the onslaught however they could.

Meta Knight was extinguishing the fireballs with Galaxia-powered slashes, such was his strength as his galaxy's greatest warrior. Rick had taken the form of a giant stone statue of himself and his friends, coated by various technicolor paints, under which Kine and Coo were taking shelter.

Adeleine and Ribbon were taking cover behind their large canvas, Dark Meta Knight covering them with mirror shards from above. Marx and Daroach were nearby, warping every now and again to dodge a misaligned projectile—and also a Rocky was with them, having been summoned into the fray by Kirby.

Finally, Magolor had his guard literally up; a star-shaped shield was over his head, acting as a barrier for both him and Taranza, who was ill-suited to defend himself against the fiery storm. As for Susie, she was tanking everything via her Business Suit, helped along by her mech splashing water everywhere she spun.

Unsurprisingly, none of them were having that much fun.

"What in the name of Galactic NOVA is that canvas made out of?" Marx asked. The canvas, at present depicting a serene, grassy backdrop from Dream Land, was somehow qualified to take a direct hit from multiple fireballs and come out without a scratch. "I've seen Rockies that are less resilient than that! And Gem Apples, and actual rocks, and maybe Gonta—"

The nearby Rocky detransformed briefly, purely to say, _"We get it,"_ before transforming back into a statue of three of Pop Star's resident artifacts (the Star Rod, the Triple Star, and the Magical Paintbrush, to be specific).

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you," the beret-wearing girl shrugged. "It's just another quirk of my Artist powers, and that's all I've ever needed to know."

"It's been really helpful either way!" Ribbon said, her head poking out from the other side of the canvas. "You never know when you'll need a sturdy shield, or find something cool to paint!"

Dark Meta Knight snorted—a strange sound, coming from him. "Most would not consider such an object well-suited to those dual purposes—not via the methods as puzzled out here. Truly, you two have these incredibly fascinating mindsets." He grunted as a fireball bounced off one of his barriers, harmlessly splashing off against the ground. "Shame that there is little time for us to practice our artistic skills any time soon. I must remember to ensure our adversaries pay for depriving me of time with my precious crayons."

"And you wonder why people find it hard to take you seriously," the jester sniggered. He warped atop his favorite victim-slash-companion, happily sitting on the disgruntled knight without a care in the world. "'My precious crayons'? That's like, the least edgiest phrase I've heard out of your mouth yet!"

"Guh—! _Marx!_ Get off of me, you cretin!" Appropriately rattled, Dark Meta Knight started swinging his limbs and wings wildly at a totally controlled pace. "Y-Your asinine shenanigans are _not_ appreciated at this moment!"

"Oh c'mon, Darky!" he cackled, crystalized wings colored cyan lifted high into the air. "You don't need to panic! I just wanna take ya out for a ride! It's not like you're in any danger; those shards of yours'll keep us _perfectly_ saf— _WAH!"_

Of course, as soon as he said that, a stray fireball – larger than the norm, it must be noted – snuck between the cracks and struck them head-on, sending them tumbling to the ground… and right toward the frontline trio.

Adeleine and Ribbon stared with unamused and amused faces, respectively, as Dedede blocked their trajectories with his hammer. _"Hey!"_ he shouted, the duo's dizzied expressions smushed down on the floor. _"Save the flirty horseplay for later!"_

" _Well_ _ **excuse**_ _ **me,**_ _Triple D…"_

" _I hate all of you, I hope you realize that…"_

The artist sighed, though not without some hint of fondness. "Boys…" she said. "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

"Tenko'll owe me once they finally get together," Ribbon bluntly mentioned. "She's gonna regret betting those 300 Gem Apples with me."

* * *

"Lightning, ice, fire, wind—they certainly pulled out all the stops to make this as bird-unfriendly as possible," Coo groused. "Won't somebody speak for us!? This is animal cruelty— _animal cruelty,_ I tell you!"

"I'll put up a complaint for you, once we get back to the Lor," Magolor quipped, magic coursing through his hands. "Might need a time machine to tell the Ancients 'bout that, but I'm sure we can get it done!"

"Perfect! Good to see _you're_ up for the task of hearing nature out," the owl approved. "While you're at it, I think I'd like a good 'ol-fashioned blaster, too. Those Mage-Sisters deserve to get a taste of their own medicine!"

Kine sighed. "Coo, you seriously need to tone down that blustery streak of yours. Like, I get that you'd prefer to be napping right now—I mean, we _all_ would—but sometimes it can be a bit… much."

"Pah! I've got a right to be a little peeved, methinks! My Cappy Town counterpart would agree with me, honestly—it's just something I gotta do!"

"Actually, he'd tell you not to be so aggressive. Wise owls shouldn't be so eager to rush into the fray."

"Wisdom's subjective, Kine! That's my logic!"

"Hmph. If you're feeling _that_ discontent, I can design a heat-resident suit for you, or at the very least a device to better defend yourself against assaults like this," Susie clinically said, not very bothered by the havoc from above – though, that might be due to her mech taking care of her maneuverability issues. "The Haltmann Works Company has had many years of experience, tailoring our products to meet certain individuals' needs—on first glance, a handheld able to generate a protective field around you might fit you the best. I'd need to perform an in-depth survey to be precise, but—"

"Wow, you sure know your stuff!" the Halcandran mage interjected, eyes twinkling in interest. "Y'know, we oughta stage a get-together sometime, bond over our shared hobbies in technocraft. Wizardry and science united, and all that jazz~!"

The President lifted her visor to gaze at her fellow Dream Friend—he who was equally as influenced by the Ancients she so vehemently despised, however different said influence may have been. Her eyes also fell upon who he was protecting: Taranza, shaking and nearly stumbling, but standing upright all the same. _He's… brave. Braver than his disposition would infer, much in the same vein as that king's assistant. It's contradictory, and yet… there's something about it—about_ _ **him**_ _—that I'm drawn to._

The three of them could assemble into quite the triumvirate, now that she thought about it: her, the stoic secretary and technological specialist; Taranza, the former queen's aide and a nervous, if capable magician; and Magolor, a mix of both their talents, confident and intelligent enough to fill in the gaps between the two of them. Put together, they'd be able to reach accomplishments she couldn't have dared to dream of—

But he also partially represented what she hated the most.

 _He's like_ _ **them.**_ _Like the Ancients. The Ancients who, however indirectly, destroyed my childhood._

… _and at the same time, he… can't be. Not entirely. Otherwise, Kirby wouldn't accept such a person into his life._

 _So, I wonder… what secrets lie behind that scarf—behind those eyes…?_

("…hey, are we gonna get back to our discussion? Blasters, anyone?"

"Coo, not now. I think they're having a moment.")

"Yo," Magolor shuffled closer to the CEO, "are you okay?" Both curiosity and concern were evident in his eyes, and for some reason, Susie's heart was clenching because of it. "You're, uh, being a little more silent than I expected…"

Her breath hitched. "I was… I was simply considering the pros and cons of the proposition you laid out."

"That's not what it looked like to me," he replied, brows raised.

She crossed her arms, feeling a little bit prickly. "Oh yeah? What _did_ it look like to you, then?"

"Past traumas welling up and coloring your thoughts and impressions."

Taranza and Susie's gazes whirled toward the mage in shock.

 _Am I—are_ _ **we**_ _that easy to read…?_

"I've made my fair share of mistakes, much like you two. Yours are more personal, admittedly, but no less painful as mine." His eyes glazed into the distance, past the already-opened barrier ahead. "Now's not the best time to discuss things, but… I do know hurt, and regret—and what it's like to feel like an outcast."

He put down his star-shaped shield and started floating forward with the rest of the crew. "If we get another lull in all this action, then… I'm up for a chat with you guys. Maybe a little one, maybe a long one. Your pick."

As he departed, Taranza and Susie glanced at each other.

After a bit, Susie broke it off. "We'll… consider it, for later," she muttered. "L-Let's go. We have… business to take care of."

"R-Right. Business! Business business! I—I can do that!"

* * *

 **Dimension III – Second Hero Trial**

"Oh dear NOVA, _no!_ _ **No!"**_

"This is… unfortunate."

"Cripes, not this nonsense again!"

" _Squawk!_ You can't be serious!"

"Oh, look—it's diamond guy! I missed him."

Five figures from the second Dark Matter crisis cried out in unison—four in exasperation, one in oblivious fondness.

Behind a set of bombable blocks, the image of a diamond—a diamond crafted out of pure gold blocks—stirred up memories of two very specific Heart Star puzzles (one fairly basic, if initially perplexing; the other absolutely infuriating). And given that this had shown up at the _start_ of Adeleine and Ribbon's Hero Trial…

"No, no, no— _wh-why is this still a thing!?_ I get that this adventure's gimmick is being absurdly difficult, but that doesn't mean you have to bring _the HB twins' stuff_ back!"

The painter-fairy duo stared worriedly at the ranting pink puffball, the Animal Buddies clustered nearby with similarly contrite expressions. Taking notice of the red-colored door above, they flew to the platform it was on and peeked through it—and as they had expected, the diamond structure was replicated on the other side, only with a few Star Blocks either replacing or adding to the existing model.

"… **a matching puzzle, huh?"** the two observed simultaneously.

"That doesn't seem so bad," Ribbon tilted her head, finger placed on her chin. "So why is Kirby so peeved? I mean, there'll be harder variants, sure, but that's nothing we can't handle!"

"Well, back then, Kirby didn't have us to keep track of the differences," Adeleine shrugged. "I was around when he and our Animal Buddies were gathering the Heart Stars—you wouldn't believe how long they took to get some of the ones in the Ice Mountains." _Metroids, Chef Kawasaki, Angelica—and I've heard of plenty more trials from before they got to Cloudy Park._

"Oh. That makes sense!"

The artist hopped to the ground, where the four Dark Matter veterans were winding down and looking more resigned now than anything else. Kirby panted, "S-Sorry about that. I—I just have a lot of… bad memories, when it comes to some collectibles."

"Us, too," Kine grumbled. "The only thing left to solidify this as a true nightmare is the Heart Stars popping up for real. I'm not even kidding, that'd _literally_ be the worst—worse than even the Parallel Bosses."

"That sounds like a _slight_ exaggeration, but I'll take your word for it," Dedede said.

Adeleine went up to her rose-colored ally and patted him on the back. "Hey, you four don't need to worry! Things are different now—you've got us, for one, and a whole party's worth of heroes to help you out!" She got out her trusty sketchbook and a sharpened pencil, tapping the latter's tip against an open page. "Between the sixteen of us, I'm sure we can figure this zone out—and if they aren't enough, I can always sketch out the examples myself!"

"Yeah! So let's stay positive!" Ribbon chimed in, a little pink crayon twirling in her fingers. "Artful Adventurers for the win!"

"Positivity is good," Gooey agreed. "Ado is good. We should listen to Ado. She makes the best cakes."

Kirby breathed in. Kirby breathed out. "Right. Positive. Times have changed; times are… more populated." He performed those two actions in a loop, Rick and Kine noticing and following his lead. "I suppose that's something I oughta remember more, considering what I preach."

"Just don't take longer than fifteen minutes a pop to solve 'em," Coo griped. "Any longer, and my feathers'd be likely to burst."

"I'll do my best!" Adeleine smiled. "If it makes you guys feel any better, we can stop for a group painting instead. I think it'll be worth it, refreshing our bonds with a break session."

"Sure, that's alright with me," the puffball resolved. "Dunno if you can find a good place to do that, but hey! You do you."

* * *

And then they found a metallic whale, and Adeleine's imagination roared to life.

* * *

 **[Adeleine]**

"Okay! Dark Meta, a little to the right! Daroach, claws on your hat! Magolor, don't wink so hard! Kirby, hold that Friend Heart higher!"

Creativity comes in many forms.

I'd know—I've done a lot of experimenting over the last few years!

When you're an artist, you tend to look at the world with a different viewpoint; doubly so when you're a _magic_ artist.

The environments you're standing on, the friends by your side, the liveliness of the world around you—inspirational masterpieces can be glimpsed from just about anywhere, so long as you know where to look.

I've always been fascinated by that. It's why I've stayed on Pop Star for over two decades now. In-between all the peace and quiet, and the semi-annual chaos I've come to call routine… there'll forever be something beautiful and heartwarming around the next corner.

And yes, that's the same even in Another Dimension.

"Come on, everyone!" Ribbon called, a tiny megaphone close to her mouth. "We can get this done! All together now!"

Dutifully, Dark Meta Knight followed our suggestions. "I expect this illustration to depict me at my best," he preened, his silver Galaxia tilted toward the sky and gleaming brightly. "It will be a suitable reward, for a knight of my caliber."

"If you say so, mate," Rick said, pointing a single paw up from where he lay. "Adeleine's art's good and all, it really is!—but personally, I just need to rest for a bit."

"Better here than never, I figure," Dedede laughed. "Whatever—if we can get something frame-worthy outta this, then I guess it doesn't matter what excuse you need! Mmm, I wonder if this drawing'd fit better in the dining room or the hallways…"

Most of everyone was posing either on top or in front of the blocky silhouette of a whale spouting water. Dedede being… Dedede, he was spread out on his side on top of it, a smug expression all over his features. Dee was, true to form, standing by his side, completely nonplussed by his shenanigans.

Honestly, I think Dedede only does it to get a kick out of our reactions.

"Great King, you've hung up so many pictures that I don't think it honestly matters," Dee deadpanned, unusually for him. (He can be sassy when he wants to be—it's just… buried deep down, sometimes.) "Any more and—a-and the walls'll probably f-fall down."

"Eh! That just means we've got to reinforce 'em with more friendship!" he crowed. "If a picture says a thousand words, I'll make those words be a strength in and of themselves!"

 _Does… that make any sense?_

… _ah, who cares? It's Dedede being shaped like a friend, what more could I ask for?_

"Save some for me, then," Magolor said, casually leaning on the 'head' of the golden whale. "The Lor could do with a few more decorations to show, and I'm in desperate need of more friend crowd shots." He briefly hummed, looking himself over. "My belt's aligned nicely over my mouth, right? I wouldn't want to make a bad impression here…"

"You're fine, totally fine!" I quickly interjected— _it's a lot harder to get this piece finished when everyone's trying to chat and move like this!_ "Stay as still as you can, and things'll be perfect! Trust me!"

"You heard Addie!" Ribbon happily shouted. "Just a little bit longer, everyone! Let the artist paint in peace!"

" _Alright!"_

" _Okey-dokey!"_

" _For you two, I'll submit to this…"_

And so I continued painting my picture in silence, Ribbon checking over my work and the scene to make sure things matched up seamlessly with each other. Again, Dedede and Dee were atop the whale; Taranza and Susie sat jointly on the 'water' spout; Marx, Gooey, and the Animal Buddies laid around Kirby, who was standing centerstage with a Friend Heart held high; Dark Meta and Daroach were on the whale's back and tail, respectively—

There was a sort of beauty, in the way everything aligned perfectly for this very moment. It's hard to describe, but… it's like a five-star meal, lovingly crafted and wonderfully delicious, stretching up to the skies and dazzling you with how much there is to eat.

…I am so lucky I had a canvas big enough to paint this.

"We're almost there," Ribbon said, adding her own small touches here and there with a small brush. "I think this might be our best painting yet!"

I lightly giggled. "That's a bit of a lofty prediction, don't you think?"

"Maybe—but we've never painted anything like this before. Not with so many friends here, and definitely not in Another Dimension!" Ribbon tapped the tip of her brush against her chin, a warmhearted smile touching her cute cheeks. "It's new, it's gorgeous, it's—it's something I wouldn't trade for the world."

"You and me both, Ribbon." I closed my eyes and let a sense of calm wash over me. "You and me both."

* * *

 _Fireworks were going off in the air; balloons and streamers were floating without a care. Freed at last from the control of Dark Matter, the citizens of Ripple Star were celebrating through the night, joined by the five who had saved them all. Food was eaten, party games were played – and the Gamble Galaxy could now rest easy, knowing that they were rid of one of their greatest threats._

 _On a hill overlooking the festivities, I couldn't help but smile. This scene—This scene existed partially thanks to me. Me, a simple artist, deciding to help a few friends repair a shattered Great Crystal._

" _Everyone's so happy," I observed, sketchbook lying flat on my lap. "I've never… seen people party this hard, ever. And… it wouldn't have been possible without me. Without Kirby."_

 _It was… a nice feeling. One I hadn't known existed._

 _It was nice._

" _Hey, Adeleine!"_

 _I blinked, and turned my head. To my delight, there was Ribbon, hovering in front of me with a chipper smile._

" _Oh. Hey there, Ribbon!" I greeted my friend. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be out celebrating with everyone."_

" _Well, I didn't see you anywhere," the fairy replied, "so I decided to come find you! We've been through a lot; I didn't want to leave you outta things!"_

Aww, she's so thoughtful! _"I just needed to take a break, after everything—but thanks for checking up on me." I scooted to sit closer to the nearby tree, resting my back on its trunk. She joined me soon after in watching the party play out, the moon shining brightly upon all of us._

" _Has it really been only a few weeks since I left…?"_

" _Hmm?" I shot a glance at Ribbon, who was looking a little wistful._

" _The Dark Matter invasion started only three weeks ago. And we managed to stop it, all by ourselves—me, you, Kirby, Dedede, and Dee."_

" _We did, didn't we?" Honestly, it feels like we're still back on Pop Star, coming together for the first time. "We've seen so many places, defeated so many enemies—and we became friends like no other. I… I don't think I'll forget the experience, not as long as I live."_

 _Ribbon nodded. "Me neither." She pulled out the crystal… blaster…_ thing _I saw her use with Kirby, and fired a few Crystal Shards into the air. "I even got a cool souvenir to remember it by—Her Majesty said I could keep it, 'cause I was such a big help to everyone."_

" _You deserve it," I said—"without you, we probably would've missed half of the Crystal Shards hiding away." And I'm not even kidding; some of them were ludicrous, like the one in Aqua Star way high up. "You're like, the biggest MVP among us – of course you get to keep something like that."_

" _You're an MVP too, Adeleine!" she replied. "Your picnics are the_ best— _the food here's good and all, but it's_ nothing _compared to what you can paint up. This adventure wouldn't have been half as amazing without you, and you deserve every bit of praise for it!"_

 _I blushed and hid my face with my hands. "They're—They're not_ that _special…" I denied. "H-Honestly, they could be a lot better than they are now…"_

" _They're still_ _ **yours**_ _, though. And that's what gives them so much heart! 'Cause… you're my best friend." She said it with absolute earnestness, the kind of which you couldn't fake. It… It made me tear up, just a little._

"… _th-thanks, Ribbon. That… means a lot, coming from you."_

 _Ribbon sighed contently. "It's too bad that we won't get to have another one, though. Our adventure's over—you'll be heading back to Pop Star soon, once we're done celebrating."_

" _Yeah…" I said quietly. As much as I loved exploring new planets with Kirby and Ribbon, it can't last forever. Rick, Kine, Coo, Gooey—I've got a life on Pop Star I can't, I_ won't _leave behind. They'd miss me, as much as they'd miss Kirby._

" _I don't… really want this to end," the fairy admitted. "I want to stay by your side, see all the new things the galaxy has to offer! I want to paint pretty pictures with you, eat delicious picnics with you… I wanna keep being your friend, A-Addie."_

She—She has a nickname for me, just like Gooey does…

…I can't say no to that adorable face, can I?

 _I ruffled her head and gave her my biggest smile. "Well, things doesn't_ have _to end. You can come live with me in Dream Land if you want to!" I opened up my sketchbook and with a pencil, quickly outlined the exterior of my house to show her. It was small, a far cry from King Dedede's castles, but it's a nice place nevertheless. "It can be a little lonely living by myself, so I don't mind having a roommate!"_

 _She looked up to me, eyes twinkling widely. "You'd do that for me?"_

" _Of course! You're my best friend, too."_

 _When we crossed that threshold, I don't know._

 _But I've never been more proud to have someone in that role._

 _Ribbon bit her lip nervously. "What about Her Majesty, though? I've been with her for so long…"_

" _I think she'd understand. Now that Dark Matter's gone, there shouldn't be anything to worry about." I mean—as far as I can tell, they haven't had the misfortune of going through three consecutive Dark Matter crises… "So, what do you say? Let's be Adeleine and Ribbon,_ _ **Artful Adventurers!**_ _"_

" _Hmm… okay!" she perked up. "Artful Adventurers we'll be, then!" She flew up to my head and sat atop my beret happily. "I can't wait to learn the ways of art with you!"_

 _I grinned. "Me too, Ribbon. Trust me—it won't be boring!"_

* * *

Has it really been eighteen years since that fateful day?

It's hard to keep track of the days when you're living your life in a World of Peace.

But I wouldn't have things any other way, to be honest.

Ribbon's brave, sassy, carefree at times—and though she can be equally as afraid as I am, she doesn't let it affect how courageous she can be. She likes picnics, flying around in the air, drawing with her friends… she's someone I'm proud to call my best friend. And I know she feels the same way.

We've seen a lot together, from robot apocalypses to interplanetary invasions—and through all the ups and downs and all-arounds, she's been the one constant I can always count on (and vice versa in turn). There's not a word in the dictionary that can describe the way we feel about each other—or how grateful I am that I've been given the chance to make so many friends alongside her.

Kirby, our shining, friendship-loving Super Tuff Pink Puff.

King Dedede, our reigning king and loving uncle-esque figure.

Bandana Dee, kind, nervous, stuttering, and brave beyond compare.

The Animal Buddies, six colorful forest dwellers who I'll forever be appreciative of.

Gooey, the cross-eyed blob with a heart as big as his tongue is long.

Marx, a trickster who expresses his love through good-natured pranks.

Dark Meta Knight, reclusive, certainly edgy, but no less loyal and true.

Daroach, our Phantom Thief with a knack for flair and good times.

Every single Star Ally here – plus those that are staying back home… they're so much more majestic than any artistic masterpiece can be by itself. United, **our souls contain a brilliant whisper of light** , gleaming faintly as they light up the darkness.

Dream Land wouldn't be Dream Land without them.

I know I can't imagine living without Ribbon, Marx, Dark Meta, Daroach in my life.

(Not to mention Cappy Town, with 'Lil Kirbs and our brigade of Ultimates…)

Like Kirby, I kinda have a… penchant for making friends wherever I go, regardless of the who's and why's of the situation. Marx got some much needed affection; Dark Meta's ice-cold heart warmed up; Daroach took us all under his wing… before I knew it, we were a close-knit quintet, as much as our four 'Core Star Allies'.

And that was cemented in full by our post-mortem journey through the Gamble Galaxy.

It really goes to show how a little drop of friendship can go a long way. If you're kind to others, you'll get kindness back—and so much more.

That's something Kirby taught me, so long ago.

I mistakenly attacked him and Gooey during the second Dark Matter crisis, and yet, he never held it against me. He helped me find my bearings in an unfamiliar world, and became the first friend I've ever known.

He brought all of us together, just by following that ideal through and through. And it's that reason why we're here to help him save the world, despite the increased difficulty and danger prevailing this time around.

We may be disparate and dysfunctional at times, but in the end, we're so much greater than the sum of our parts. As Kirby would say, we're friends, first and foremost – and that'll never change, no matter what tries to get in our way.

Zero(-Two), the Jambandra Cult, Void Termina, Monokuma… they can try all they want to bring us down—we'll come out on top, so long as the Power of Friendship continues to stand by our side.

That's a promise.

"And I'm done!"

I stepped back from my canvas, putting away my brush and palette. In an instant, fourteen Star Allies dropped down and rushed over to my side, eager to catch their first glimpse at my newest painting.

They weren't disappointed.

"Heck yeah…!"

"Oooooh—I _love_ it!"

"Satisfactory work, Adeleine."

As expected, it was great: in front of the backdrop of a real whale, all my friends could be seen smiling and posing with gusto. All the stress of Another Dimension had melted away, leaving behind what could only be described as sheer, unadulterated _bliss._ A fitting way to encapsulate everything that made us… well, us.

"Great job as always, Adeleine!" Marx said, his teeth glistening brightly. "I knew I could count on you to capture my amazing visage!"

"Don't forget mine," Magolor seamlessly added.

" _Aaaaaaahhhhh,_ it's _amazing!"_ Dee gushed. He waved his hands in the air as he looked at the painting from various angles. "I—I dunno how to explain it, b-but it's just— _perfect!"_

"It's your best work yet, girl," Dedede agreed. "Definitely worth joining my hall of framed pictures."

"I'd like to have a copy to place inside my airship as well," Daroach smirked. "If there was ever a treasure I absolutely needed, this is it."

"I appear… acceptable in this," Dark Meta decreed. "I give it my approval. Do as you will with it."

Closest thing to a compliment I'm gonna get from him.

I rubbed the back of my head and blushed deeply. "Heh heh heh… th-thanks, everyone! I'm glad you guys like it!"

"When it comes to us, there's nothing we can't make look good!" Ribbon declared. "We're the queens of art, no doubt about it!"

"It's pretty cool, don't get me wrong," Kirby said. "It's probably my favorite piece to come from you yet. But… there's one small thing that's missing from it—two somethings, actually."

"Huh?" Ribbon and I blinked, looking over my painting to try and see what he was talking about. So did everyone else. "That's… odd. I don't see anything off. Are you imagining things, Kirby?"

"Hold on," Marx squinted, two claws brought to his chin. "Now that I'm looking more carefully… yeah, there _is_ something left to add!"

Huh? _Huh?_

"Well, that ain't a corker at all," Rick said. "The spirit of friendship means _everyone_ here should be gettin' in!"

Gooey nodded sagely. "Nobody should be left out. Ado and Ribbon worked hard on it."

… _I'm confused._

"Here, lemme make a quick edit. Adeleine, mind if I borrow a brush?"

"O-Okay!"

I handed Kirby a spare paintbrush, and seconds later, he had transformed into Artist Kirby. He brought out a palette of his own, made a few brushstrokes, and that was it! "There we go! Take another look, guys!"

I peered over the edited drawing—and my eyes widened.

For the most part, it was roughly the same…

"Ah! Addie, look!" Ribbon pointed.

…save for the image of me and Ribbon waving and cheerfully floating above the whale.

A light bulb went off inside my head. "Oh!"

"That's right!" Kirby chirped. "You two matter as much as the rest of us, y'know! There's no way I could leave you guys outta the proceedings after all we've been through!"

"Indeed," Daroach agreed, one paw lifting his hat, the other being slung around my back. "Every single person here, accomplished or not, deserves their place in our ranks through some fashion or another. We are a team, so don't forget—we'll always care for each other, come what may."

"Yeah! We're not buttheads!" Marx cheekily added. "Just guys that like to be fed every now and again!"

"Speak for yourself, runt…" Dark Meta groused.

I beamed through my own flushing emotions. "Hee hee—we'll—we'll be sure to remember that!" I replied, cheeks red.

The painting sparked to life right then and there, and all of a sudden, everyone drawn on the canvas was acting as if they were the real-deal Star Allies. Everyone stared in awe as the scene took place, even imitating some of their duplicates' actions. They jostled each other, they talked with each other—but most of all, they— _we_ —were friends with each other.

This is why I fight. This is why I live.

This is the world that makes me smile wherever I go.

This… is my World of Miracles.

 _I love you guys._

* * *

" _Do you truly believe that friendship is the way to go?"_

" _Hm?" I tilted my head at our resident Ultimate Anthropologist, popping another slice of cake into my mouth. "Whatcha talkin' 'bout, Kiyo?"_

 _The eight of us—me and my friends, plus Tenko, Angie, and Kiyo—were plopped down on a blanket, having a nice picnic in the Mirror World. Cakes and sandwiches and bagels were placed all over, as fresh as if they had come from an oven._

" _You better not be planning to be all creepy again, degenerate!" Tenko hissed—she hadn't entirely gotten over… what brought her here yet, unfortunately. "There's no way I'm gonna let you get your hands on any girl ever again!"_

" _Kehehe… there is no need to fear," he replied. "I wouldn't have the stomach to attempt such a cruel act more than once, in any sense—not after that corruptive spirit was excised from me. I simply want to know how one can be so optimistic despite seeing the worst of what humanity—and moreover, the universe—has to offer."_

" _That's easy," I said, my cheeks still full. "It's 'cause there's nothing you can't overcome, so long as you have a friend to help you out!"_

" _Uh-huh," Ribbon interjected, chowing down on a cookie. "We'd know; me and Adeleine have been together for, like… forever!"_

" _I see, I see!" Angie nodded, looking as if she'd at last gained an understanding. "Friendship is your calling, in the same vein being Atua's vessel is mine! Atua is very, very impressed!"_

" _Well, that's one thing we can agree on, Angie," the Aikido Master muttered. She sighed, her normally boisterous face drooping a bit. "I wish that our world believed in such pure ideas… Himiko's out there alone, and I can't protect her anymore. How am I supposed to protect anyone like this…?"_

 _I shuffled over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Tenko, it'll be okay," I assured her. "We'll figure things out, somehow—you've got us and Kirby by your sides! Just believe in us!"_

 _She sniffled. "Ahhhhhhh… You're so cute when you say that…!" She was blushing now, but at least she looked a little happier. "Okay, then! I won't give up hope! For girls everywhere, I'll keep praying! HI-YAHHHHHH!"_

 _Ribbon giggled. "That's the spirit," she said._

* * *

 **[N/A]**

"Magician EX, Evil Knight EX, and Great Dragon EX are preparing a **special attack!** "

"Oh, goodie! A _special attack!_ Haven't seen a virus pull _that_ off before!"

Sixteen Star Allies were locked in combat with something odd, even by their standards: a random witch, a demonic black knight, and a violet dragon, with the former two riding on the latter as it soared around the impromptu arena. The Magician and the Evil Knight were both charging up a mighty spell and technique, respectively, out of reach of the lower-level Dream Friends.

"Then again, they never tried anything other than sending one guardian out at a time," Kirby continued, gazing at the enemies above, highly-energized plasma radiating from his form. "So I guess all those system updates had to go somewhere!"

"That, by itself, implies a virus can receive updates mid-transit," Meta Knight said. "Which is a rather odd idea, considering this virus isn't even connected to anything."

"Guess the firewalls in this place aren't the greatest," Dedede snarked, gripping his mighty mallet tightly. "Not like that matters—if experience is any indication, this ain't gonna be a breeze to dodge! Brace yourselves, gang!"

" _This is gonna hurt…!"_ Bandana Dee squeaked. "N-Not moreso than everything else, b-but… _eeeeeeeee…!"_

The quartet of core Star Allies carefully divided their attention between the message box in the background—"The Star Allies collectively raise their defenses!"—and the classical fantasy triad, waiting for their Limit Break to be unleashed _(or whatever they're calling it nowadays,_ Dedede idly thought). At last, the trio began to move—and a cacophony of attacks billowed through the battlefield.

The Great Dragon flapped its wings, sending strong gusts of wind to unbalance the Star Allies. The Magician raised its staff, and suddenly there were _huge_ shooting stars falling from the sky, each of them being fueled by one of the five main elements—Sizzle, Blizzard, Splash, Zap, and Bluster. And the Evil Knight had his own twist to bring to the table: a hexagonal barrier surrounding him and his teammates, supplemented by sharp-looking knives surrounding _that_ —which he was also throwing at anyone who got too close to him, because why not?.

Kirby… despite himself, was actually kind of impressed. In-between swapping to Wing and weaving around the mishmash of multi-element missiles, he stated, "Okay! I admit! That's a pretty neat Friend Combo. If we weren't on opposite sides, I'd approve of it." A Condor Dive narrowly allowed him to dive under a falling star, and he hastily added, "A bit of a conceit, but—still!"

"Good thing approval's not on the menu, then!" Dedede replied, doing a decent job at standing his ground. A star bashed here, a star bashed there; one could compare his performance to that of two plumbers who were well-versed in the art of counterattacking. (Shame that the shield was blocking his attempts to do so.) "I'm not gonna let this out-of-genre party upstage _us_ in the spectacle department—how 'bout we do a special attack of our own!?"

Bandana Dee—having been busy doing what can only be described as 'borderline dancing'—hopped on his regent's back, pointing a spear to the sky in affirmation. "You said it, Great King!"

"Hmph." Meta Knight unfurled his cape, permitting his wings to flourish in the air. "That shield may appear to be impressively impenetrable… but we are not the four of Pop Star's strongest for no reason. Are you ready?"

A brief flash of light, and a hat themed after a jetpack rested on his pink colleague's head. "Of course I am! Who do you take me for?" he grinned. He took his fellow allies' hands and started charging up an Ultra-Jet Jump. "Now, let's show 'em what a _real_ Team Attack looks like!"

" _ **Yeah! Together!"**_ two other voices cried in unison.

The three shot off into the air, and Meta Knight dutifully followed.

Team Computer Virus noticed the four's efforts, and moved to intercept them before they could get to them. Knives and shooting stars alike were directed their way—but Meta Knight was faster, Galaxia blazing a trail for his friends to zoom through.

And zoom they did: Kirby whizzed by everything with a carefree smile, undaunted from carrying both Dedede and Bandana Dee. Soon, they made it to their enemies' faces—and Dedede raised his mallet, bolstered by his two best friends being on his side. _"Get ready for a clobberin', y'all!"_ he declared.

The computer window in the background changed its text appropriately.

"The Star Allies use a **Team Attack: Core-tet Crash!** "

The royal penguin dropped the hammer as hard as he could—and the barrier literally shattered into pieces, humongous glowing stars flying from the impact. Kirby wasted no time in swinging his teammates onto the Great Dragon's back, Dee unleashing spears wrapped in light one after the other at both the witch and the wannabe knight.

" _EEEEEAAAH—!"_

" _URGH—!"_

Caught off-guard, they tumbled off their steed and onto the floor. The dragon veered about in shock, and was subsequently blindsided by the Star Allies regrouping to smash into it at the same time.

" _YAHOOOOOO!"_

" _Come—meet your doom!"_

And so the great beast was sent spiraling down with his comrades, the flurry of stabs and slams and energy blasts proving to be too much for it to handle. Gathering into a circle, the quartet charged up a final attack, Kirby taking the lead—

" _ **SUPERSTAR FRIENDSHIP BEAM!"**_

—and then, a brilliant rainbow laser extended from his hands, engulfing the enemies whole.

Their Hit Points ticked down to zero in record time.

Star-themed expressions were expelled from their bodies, and soon enough, they were gone entirely.

"And _that's_ how you do it, folks!" Kirby exclaimed, to much fanfare. "Chalk another victory up for the Star Allies!"

" _You go, guys!"_

" _That was pretty. Lots of pretty lights. I like it!"_

" _W-W-Wow! That was really—w-wow!"_

The text boxes in the back celebrated this victory, in their own way.

"Kirby and his friends defeated all the enemies!"

"You gained 5040 EXP! (Not that it matters.)"

"Your Happy Smile went up by 5!"

"Your Mask Shine went up by 4!"

"Your Leadership went up by 9!"

"Your Appetite went up by 7!"

"Your Roundness went up by 6!"

"Your Friendship went up by 100!"

Kirby couldn't help but grin, seeing the 'stat increases' scroll across the screens. _"Ooh,_ and we got some extra Happy Smile points, too! That's always nice!"

"The additional Mask Shine points are appreciated," Meta Knight added, entirely seriously. "It will go a long way toward lowering the amount of polishing sessions I need to perform."

"Do these points apply to _all_ of us, or just some of us?" Dedede asked. "I don't mind having a boost in Leadership and Friendship—and wow, that is one heck of a boost in Friendship—but… I don't think I have a use for Roundness. Like, not at all."

Bandana Dee held up a hand. "U-U-Ummmm… Better question: are—are these stats even r- _real?_ I know Attack and Defense and M-Magic are things, b-but…"

Kirby took a moment to think, before beaming and shrugging it off. "Eh, who cares? They matter to me, and that's what matters in the end! Look, my smile's gotten wider even as we speak! Can't ya tell!?"

"No."

"Kind of? _Maybe?"_

"You smile all the time," his bestest-best friend pointed out, "how the heck are we supposed to tell?"

"By… telling? I've got, like, a dozen different smiles for a dozen different situations! Hanging out, eating, winning a Mario Party, losing a Mario Party, meeting new friends, glaring daggers into whatever latest Eldritch Abomination's come to chow on us—"

Each description the puffball gave out made the other three laugh out loud with increasing intensity, to the point where even Kirby ultimately broke down and laughed alongside them.

They were friends. The closest of friends. The core of the Star Allies, and nothing would ever change that.

Another Dimension could try all it wanted—they'd blast through it at sonic light speed, no doubt about it.

And if in the process they got about a thousand more Friendship points, that'd just be the icing on the cake.

* * *

 **Dimension III – Third Hero Trial**

"I don't trust this. Not one bit."

"N-N-Neither do I! It _looks_ easy, b-but—one wrong move…!"

"T-Tell me about it… I've dealt with enough Wonkees to last me a _lifetime!"_

"How irritating… Dees shouldn't be so—so uncouth like that!"

Bandana Dee, Taranza, Gooey, Parasol Dee, and Wester stared semi-nervously at the puzzle before them: a key next to a cliff too steep to reach in a single bound (or two); a Wonkee waiting in a tunnel below, walking unaffected by gales that would push anyone else back to the start. Past that, there was a pool of lava at the end of the tunnel… and high above that, a door accessible through two mid-air platforms, locking away a single Friend Heart.

Dedede's faithful assistant put his hands together. "We're gonna have to c-coordinate our efforts, th-then, while e-everyone handles business outside." He steeled his spine and got into his second-in-command stance. "Gooey, Wester, you're next to the lava pit—I'm c-counting on you to catch that guy in time. Taranza, P-Parasol Dee, you're on the platform up there—w-watch out for anything that could come our way! I'll drop the key down the hole, so just wait for my signal!"

The gathered friends nodded – except for Gooey, who simply twirled his tongue in the air. They split toward their respective zones, aiming to succeed in their assignments however they could. Bandana Dee took in a deep breath, and reluctantly picked up the key.

" _Here we go again…"_ he muttered.

As the third-recognized Dream Friend prepared to kickstart the puzzle-solving process _(_ _ **Does**_ _this actually count as 'puzzle-solving'?_ the experienced aide wondered), the other Star Allies made light conversation with one another.

"Soooooooooo…" Wester drawled out, rubbing his hand against the side of his veiled head, "whatcha in for, buddy? Anythin' you'd like to go get after we finish dealin' with this fine mess?"

Gooey curled his tongue in such a way that it was poking at his chin. "Ehhhhhhhh… I'd like a sandwich. A sandwich-y sandwich, with pickles and onions and all the stuff that sandwiches have."

"Fan of the classics, aren't ya?" the cowboy chuckled. "I can respect that. There's peeps like good 'ol Dedede—and wannabe Dedede—and their fancy high-class courses, and then there's those that don't mind what they eat. I reckon you fall in the latter category, huh?"

"Mmm." Gooey tilted left and right. "That's-a nice." He turned to face Wester and gave him a wavy smile. "You're a fun guy, Wester. You kind of remind me of Daroach. You two should work together sometime. I think it'd be nice."

"Daroach, you say? Well, I can't deny that I _have_ considered it a few times since March. Perhaps a joint expedition _is_ in order—they say that things get more entertaining with more people around…"

Over atop the cliff, Taranza kept casting his gaze toward the entrance to the puzzle room, a deep frown creasing on his face. He was uncomfortable, undoubtedly so; even Parasol Dee noticed, what with the constant fidgeting of his six hands.

"You're, uh—you're pretty jumpy right now," she noticed. "You sure you up for this task? I mean, if you wanna take a break, I can do this on my own…"

The arachnid hesitated for a moment, before he shook his head. "N-No! No, I'm—I'm _fine!"_ He summoned an electrified web ball above his head, shakily grinning at his temporary partner. "S-See? I can do sings—err, things! N-N-No worries!"

It was hard to forget how eagerly he volunteered to help handle getting this out-of-the-way Friend Heart, she recalled. The minute the pathway here was opened and Kirby had asked for volunteers, Taranza had practically _bolted_ in like he was hyped up on Invincibility Candy. It was almost as if he was trying to get away from something…

…or some _one._

If Parasol Dee had a mouth, she'd be frowning herself. She had her own suspicions about what was going on—you didn't come this far as one of Kirby's Helpers without learning to be at least a _little_ observant—but it wasn't her place to bring it up. Not here, anyway.

She sighed. "I'll take your word for it, Taranza."

Taranza shook his head up and down, seemingly trying desperately to convince himself he was peachy as a… as a… as an _insert-metaphor-here._ "Okey-dokey! W-We're—We're all good, I s-see! We c-can get through this, n-no problem!"

"…the more you say stuff like that, the more I get worried, y'know…"

The four of them waited for their leader's signal – some patiently, some not-so-patiently. Seconds passed in what felt like minutes – and then…

" _Okay, everybody!"_ Bandana Dee's voice echoed from the drop-off point. _"Key's going down in three… two… one!"_

Three pairs of eyes narrowed, another pair going cross-eyed – and so, another miniature challenge began in earnest.

* * *

Back in the main hallway, with Team Kirby/Dark Meta Knight…

Destruction rained down on the poor, poor minions of Another Dimension.

" _ **HAAAAA**_ **HAHAHAHAHAHA! This is the end for you, pitiful creatures!"**

"That's _riiiiiiightttttt~!_ We're gonna turn ya into _rolls of toilet paper!_ WAHOO!"

You could take the malicious menace out of a reformed villain, but you could never take away the beatdown-happy frenzies that otherwise characterized them so. And while Taranza and Susie weren't ones to take part in such… pointlessly passion-filled plays, Marx and Dark Meta Knight had a very different outlook.

Silver swords were summoned from tears in reality, each blazing like a furious inferno.

Beach balls dropped from a jester's mouth, accompanied by ferociously swishing wind cutters.

Bombs were cut and their fuses were lit; ground barriers and fiery blocks were broken into pieces.

It was a spectacular sight: this duo, at once totally at odds with one another and yet completely in sync…

…truly, it was another happy contradiction fostered by the Ultimate Friend Maker.

"Having fun?" Magolor sided up to them, shooting swaths of Revolution Orbs from his magic hands.

"Hee hee hee—of course!" Marx sniggered, kicking away an unfortunate Scarfy. "I didn't get 'nuff entertainment outta my own Hero Trial, so I might as well piggyback off of Darky's! He doesn't mind, _don't you?"_ He edged his wing into his companion's face; Dark Meta Knight lightly shoved it away in turn.

The mirror doppelganger fluttered in place and briefly sent a shadow of himself to slash away a charging Burning Leo, replying with only a **"Know your place!"** toward the hapless mook. Once he managed to get some leg room, he turned to Marx and snarked, "Don't be so egotistical, jester. You should consider yourself fortunate that I am in the mood to be so generous, earlier heart-to-hearts notwithstanding."

Magolor laughed heartily. "I can see why you two make for such the duo," he remarked—"few can complement each other so well, let alone mix their battle styles in such a fashion. Speaking of which, I'm gonna bet you guys get a lot out of these… therapeutic battle sequences."

The trio hopped over another solid magma block (and oh boy, were those kind of _weird),_ . It was somehow impressive, how they were able to have coherent discussions in the middle of delivering such heated curb-stomp massacres—marches.

"I will admit: it is relieving, in a sense, to be able to release my emotions in such a manner," the dark knight said, in-between bombastically fending off the hordes of enemies ahead. "I may no longer seek the destruction of all that exists, but the visceral satisfaction that comes from cleaving through your adversaries still remains."

"Yep, yep, yep, wouldn't you know it!" Marx chimed in. "We all gotta get our thrills from somewhere, like Darky says! He gets 'em from being a sadist—" _("How… endearingly demeaning of you, Marx…")_ "—I get 'em from pranking all the time, good 'ol Mety and Maki get 'em from being a giant stick-in-the-mud…" He gave out his signature giggle, that which at higher intensities could frighten a dragon. "Makes me wonder how _you_ deal with things, Mags! Hey, why don't you tell us? _Come onnnnnnnn…"_

Chaos continued in the interim, helped along by the continuous stream of enemies. As Deadly Needles and Wind Cutters danced around the formerly-villainous trio, Magolor replied, "If you must know, strategizing and management sims have become pastimes of mine, as of late. Planning things out in a nice, controlled setting is relaxing to my nerves—the perfect go-to approach after a Master Crown memory-induced funk."

"Huh. Fascinating!" Marx replied, spitting several balls at a pair of Dekabus. By this point, they had reached a split in the path, a ladder high up leading them to a corridor directly above where they had already traversed. "We oughta play a game of Mario Party sometime, then!—not chess, 'cause that's boring. It sounds like it might suit _both_ of us well!"

"I insist that you do not," Dark Meta Knight grumbled. "Your influence should never, _ever_ expand beyond these know boundaries. _Ever._ _ **It would be the ultimate sin."**_

At the top of the ladder, where a one-way platform greeted them (as they had expected, based on the similar scene from earlier), a collection of hanging ropes lay before them—four they knew to cut, one they knew to leave the heck alone.

"Heh heh! Look at these little strands of poly-roly!" the jester pointed out, a teal-colored wing directed at the aforementioned fuses ahead. "Hey, Mags, you still got that launching ship of yours, right?"

"Way ahead of you, Marx." A few seconds later, the miniature Lor Starcutter had been summoned back into existence, looking no worse for wear from its prior endeavors. Magolor, Marx, and Dark Meta Knight jumped onto the deck, the latter standing in the front and duly prepared to light up the night, so to speak.

"The Starcutter Express is back for another flight!" the self-appointed captain crowed, clearly enjoying himself. "Please fashion your seatbelts and turn on the Airplane Mode on your phones; we're going for a ride, and it's gonna be mighty glorious!"

" **Hmph,"** Dark Meta Knight sneered, dramatically pointing his sword toward his targets. **"It is time these pitiful constructs learnt their place in the hierarchy of our order. Captain… let us begin our conquest, here and now!"**

The engines of the celestial starship flared up—and with a velocity rivaling the stars themselves, it shot off through the passageway, three voices crying out incredibly different things at roughly the same time.

" **FACE THE DARKNESS!"**

"TO THE UNCHARTED SKIES!"

"FOR MY TASTY NAPTIMES!"

* * *

In the corridor below the Fuse-Enflaming Fanatics…

"Welcome back to the Weather Channel, Dream Landers! Today's forecast: _stormy with a side of sizzling_ _ **smashing!"**_

"You heard it here first, folks! As your ruler, I hereby decree: **all who stand in our way, prepare to be** _ **burnt to ash! HEH HEH HEH!"**_

On the opposite end of the hero-villain Large Ham spectrum, there was Kirby and Dedede, acting like a well-oiled machine (if that well-oiled machine was well-versed in teamwork and enemy). The king was twirling around with his hammer in front of him, fire and lightning—the latter being supplied from Kirby—surrounding their spinning forms and flying _everywhere._

" _BURN, BABY,_ _ **BURN!"**_

" _TASTE THE LIGHTNING—_ _ **ALLLLLLL**_ _ **THE LIGHTNING!"**_

"Mates, I won't lie: they're kinda scarin' me," Rick blithely stated.

"They scare _everybody_ sometimes," Kine reminded him. "There's a reason very few people can beat 'em in a contest."

Situated in the back, waiting for the next key to become available, the Animal Buddies couldn't help but sit back and watch as Kirby and Dedede single-handedly clobbered as many foes as they could get their hands on. Meta Knight, Daroach, and Susie (in her Business Suit) were also observing the calamity with interested eyes.

"Terrifyingly effective," the warrior of them commented. "It is truly extraordinary, how adding elemental effects can increase the intensity of a technique."

"It's not _that_ impressive," Susie scoffed. "Anyone could do that, with the right pieces in place."

"They'd have to be pretty good to do it _well,_ though!" Coo replied. "Like, I can't lift a hammer to save my feathers!"

"Unless you use your feet, maybe," Rick suggested. "You could probably get some mileage outta it that way."

"And have to pick it up again and again each drop? _No_ thanks!"

Daroach's fine senses proceeded to go off—specifically, in relation to the explosives hanging above. "Heads up, crew," he alerted them. "I do believe the you-know-whats are about to drop."

Coo immediately hurled himself at least six feet back. _"I'm not getting my feathers torched, I'm not getting my feathers torched—!"_

"Slow down, Coo, slow down!" Kine breathed, trying to catch up to him. "You know I can't move that fast on land—!"

As the Animal Trio unwittingly pushed themselves farther and farther back, Adeleine and Ribbon chasing after them— _"Coo, you don't need to panic so much! Rick, Kine, can't you beat some sense into him—!?"_ —Meta Knight and Daroach took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. (How Meta Knight could with his mask in the way, who knew.) Susie brought down her visor in accordance.

And so the unlikely trio got a front-seat ticket to the puffball-penguin partnership putting on a good show—

 _ **KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!**_

…in spite of the fiery and explosive backdrop that was suddenly encircling them.

" _Ooh, explosions, explosions, EXPLOSIONS! NOVA's smiling down on us!"_

" _HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH! Look at us, we're kicking butt like nobody's business!"_

"I've never understood you natives' obsession with such barbaric tactics," the CEO said, shaking her head from within her cockpit. "There is a plethora of other, less… unprofessional techniques that could be used instead."

"Sometimes, professionalism can take a backseat to wanting to enjoy yourself, regardless of circumstances," Meta Knight replied. "We all have our own different styles that we won't change. Perhaps, once upon a time, we could've bonded over our own shared analytic minds—but instead…" He went silent, unpleasant memories once more coming to the forefront.

For once, Susie actually seemed regretful about that. She brought her hands together and looked down. "…Another Dimension took a lot out of me," she admitted lowly. "You—You wouldn't like… letting go of things, if… if it meant the alternative was losing everything that ever mattered to you."

…

"…just make an effort to grow past it," the honorable knight acknowledged. "We may never be friends, but… acquaintances is something I can handle."

Susie hummed. "I… will try."

"And for what it's worth… know that we are here to aid you, should you ever be in need of something to keep you balanced."

"…much appreciated of you."

* * *

 **[Daroach]**

 **Dimension III – Fourth Hero Trial**

It was time.

Time for the Squeak Squad to perform our grandest heist yet:

The heist of the Friend Hearts deep within Another Dimension!

"Doc, Spinni, Storo, Squeaks—let us begin the game!"

"Gotcha!"

"Yes, boss!"

"Mwehehe—time for zcience!"

" _Squeak, squeak!"_

Plugs for Doc to electrify through his UFO.

Tunnels small enough for Spinni to crawl through.

Stumps and enemies for Storo to stomp on.

Space for my little Squeakers to cheer us on.

My— _our—_ Hero Trial was exactly what I expected.

And I couldn't have asked for anything else.

With a point from my staff, an ice beam froze a series of enemies solid—a Broom Hatter, a Waddle Dee, etc. In short time, Spinni and Doc gave them their just desserts, claws and electric charges taking them out of the fight.

With two Friend Hearts already under our belt, we continued up the ladder and toward the next section of land. More enemies attempted to strike from the wings—but dealing with opposition was well within our abilities, given our day jobs.

Star Bullets bounced around the terrain and into enemies, with more still coming from my Triple Star. Storo was using his gut to knock the dizzied into dreamland, with the Squeakers and Star Allies cleaning up after the rest. I grinned, backflipping through the air and narrowly dodging a fireball from a massive Galbo.

" _You're mine~!"_

I brought out a bomb—one of my smaller ones, to be precise—and threw it at the unsuspecting minion. The force of the explosion lifted me up, high above the ensuing mook battle on ground level. I spun around and raised a hand into the air as I soared, intending to come down in style—

—and then I noticed I had flew right into a den of overhead Scarfies.

We stared for each for a hot minute as I came to a stop.

Eyes were blinked. Expressions were shared between each other.

Finally, a few moments later… they morphed into their cycloptic forms.

I raised an eyebrow. "Distorted much?" I commented.

They responded by swooping in for the kill.

I warped out of the way and shot several ice shards at the horde; this seemed to inconvenience them, but not by a whole lot. Another Scarfy shot at me like a missile, likely believing me to be an easy target – of course, I quickly dissuaded him of that notion with two hard slashes from my claws.

We played a little game of keep-away for a bit, dancing through the air as if we were spies leaping across buildings. Try as they might, the Scarfies couldn't catch me – they were no Kirby, that was for sure. Eventually, I decided enough was enough and dropped straight down to the ground, landing with my signature aplomb.

" _Mighty vicious today, aren't we!?"_ I shouted, tipping my hat up to see them. _"If your corrupted hearts were any darker, they might manifest in this realm all by themselves!"_

 _Hmm… I wonder if I should stop referencing Persona 5 so much._

… _nah. Masterpieces deserve to be beloved through such means!_

"Hey! Daroach! Need a hand?"

Much to my own pleasure, Adeleine and Ribbon crashed onto the scene, the fairy's Crystal Gun unsurprisingly being held in her tiny hands. My smirk grew as I pulled back out the Triple Star Cane. "I thought you'd never ask, Adeleine."

"Pew pew! Time to shoot!" so declared Ribbon.

The Scarfies started surrounding us above our heads, refusing to leave us be—but with our backs against one another and our respective weapons in hand, we knew we had the upper hand. We spun around in a circle, Star Bullets and Crystal Shards firing one after the other. Each enemy sustained a multitude of hits and fell soon after—at which point I called, _"Storo! They're yours!"_

" _Got it, boss!"_

The big lunk wasted no time in barging into the fray and slamming into the fallen Scarfies. While he cleaned up shop for us, I held a palm into the air and high-fived the artistic duo.

"Woo- _hoo!"_

"That was perfect!" Adeleine pumped her fist in the air. "When we're united, there's nothing we can't accomplish!"

"Indeed," I laughed. "Friendship makes for a fine tool of the trade, if I do say so myself."

* * *

" _Well, that was… unpleasant."_

 _I found myself sitting next to Kirby as he relaxed on a hill in Dream Land. He was chowing down on a giant slice of strawberry shortcake, acting as if he hadn't just turned Dark Nebula into space bits._

" _Mmm, you wouldn't be the first one to say that," he said, taking another bite of his cake. "Dedede, Dee, and Adeleine know what it's like, too. You could probably form a support group 'bout it, actually!"_

" _Our esteemed king, you say?" I brought my hand to my chin and closed my eyes. "He does seem like the sort to attract such demons. Though given the way he acts, I imagine it'd be hard to tell the difference…" If he was any more avaricious, there'd be no end to the amount of heists I'd be pulling on him._

" _Hey, he's not_ that _bad! He's a perfectly fine friend once you get past his greed… and his arrogance… and his insistence that we're not friends…"_

" _You have an odd concept of friendship," I said—"and priorities in general. Most normal people wouldn't be chasing others across the planet for the sake of cake."_

" _Heh heh…" The puffball rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that. I_ reaaaaaaally _like eating—and eating strawberry shortcakes—and I just… took things the wrong way. Thieves showing up right after my cake was stolen? Pretty suspicious, if you ask me! And it didn't help that Meta Knight sucks at explaining things."_

 _I laughed. "You needn't fear next time, then—us Squeaks seek far more valuable objects than simple foodstuff… though admittedly, Dark Nebula was not one of them." That was part of the danger, if I am being honest: you never know if the contents of a chest is safe unless you open it up yourself. "I'd prefer to not discover such despicable beings, but the life of a treasure hunter is what it is."_

" _Sounds dangerous!" he remarked, voice muffled from the delicacy wedged in his cheeks. "Then again, my whole adventuring schtick is basically that. Maybe we should get-together sometime and help each other out—gotta return the favor, y'know?"_

 _To my surprise, I found myself considering the offer. I smirked outwardly and replied, "Perhaps. You certainly have the skill to back up your sass. It'd be nice to have assistance when raiding some more ruins."_

 _It's… a little strange, I must admit. Before now, I haven't put much stock into the other residents of Dream Land._

 _King Dedede, as previously mentioned, is… not a very good king, and has been that way for as long as I can remember. His antagonism toward his 'kingdom', let alone us, has made him thoroughly unpleasant to interact with, and thus the only capacity our interactions take is him being the victims of our heists._

 _Meta Knight is a different case: he is at once powerful and enigmatic, and it can be hard to catch him even on a good day. I hear he and his little army gets involved in crises wherever they can, but beyond that they keep to themselves. His serious nature would likely make him a poor candidate for casual conversation, anyway._

 _Those two alone are disinteresting to me—and I haven't had much of a reason to interact with the Animal Buddies (or the artist I hear about from time to time). But Kirby…_

 _Kirby has a spark. He is determined, creative, upbeat—and definitely a fighter to the end. Anything my crew could throw at him, he could handle with minimal problems. Doc had a lot of fun coming up with inventions to throw at the little puffball, and I myself found excitement from the duel we had back in the Ice Palace._

 _They say that he'll be friendly with everybody._

 _I think I'm… not entirely adverse to that._

" _Be glad to be onboard sometime," he said. He stuck out a hand and beamed. "So—friends?"_

 _I stretched out my own hand and shook it firmly._

" _Friends."_

* * *

"I sense three Friend Hearts behind the curtain, everyone," I announced, nose sniffing the air. We—Kirby, my crew, and I—had dropped down from a precipice into an isolated zone, letting the other Star Allies handle the enemy front over the counter. (A good thief knows how to delegate duties.) "Storo, be a good mouse and open the way for us, will you?"

And with a mighty stomp, Storo squashed the stump blocking the solution to this next puzzle. Behind the blocks of steel lay a fuse, extending off and into the floor below. Through the transparent texture, I could see it split into two—one path leading to an assorted stack of dynamite, the other…

…I wouldn't be surprised if it was poised to terminate the collectibles we were seeking.

"This looks tricky," Spinni said, paw raising his sunglasses. "We're gonna need perfect timing to get this right, and that ain't gonna be easy."

"Business as usual here in Another Dimension," Kirby shrugged—it's a wonder he can stay so flappable, if these are the type of tests he's regularly besieged by. "The Waddle Dee Ball couldn't stop us a few hours ago; we can definitely get past this!"

My Squeakers squeaked in agreement.

As usual, I rested a paw on the rim of my hat. "I see, I see," I said. I twirled my staff behind me and fired an ice laser from it, freezing the waterfall flowing from a pipe. "Well, there's no time like the present. If it's do or die, we'll just have to make sure we do and fly!"

"Roger, roger!"

"I hear you loud and clear, boss!"

"To mighty explozzzzions!"

"That's the spirit!" the hero sang. He literally lit up and equipped the Fire ability, wearing an unmistakably cheeky grin. He hopped next to the frozen waterfall in preparation to melt it, Spinni and Doc making their way toward the dynamite—best to be in place to snatch up the Friend Hearts in time. "Ready when you are, Daroach!"

Crises were not a scarce commodity in Dream Land, as odd as that should likely be to the Gamble Galaxy at large.

For as peaceful as our kingdom could be, such a lifestyle paradoxically came with some unique caveats: hostile forces and all-powerful artifacts is only half of the story. There are relics to be found and justice to be doled—the perfect place for a would-be treasure hunter and phantom thief such as myself.

…well, I'm not _entirely_ a phantom thief, but aesthetics are what they are.

Besides, phantom thieves are cool; no further argument is needed.

It's sometimes still hard to believe that my road has taken me this far; that I could gain so many friends and even a family—my Squeaks—after these long years. But in the end… I don't regret having met them, or taking the route that I did.

And the feeling is mutual.

I reached into my pockets and unveiled a massive bomb, adorned with red stars and covered in flames. Unfazed by the heat, I casually tossed it onto the fuse—and watched as a pillar of flame rose up and hit the ceiling above it.

My eyes turned to the ground below the out-of-place drainage pipe. Thankfully, the two fuses had become misaligned, the one we needed burning faster than the one we didn't – all we had to do now was time this right.

Kirby prepared his mouth to fire.

Spinni and Doc prepared to dash in.

We watched with unabated eyes as the fuses continued on.

 _Three…_

 _Two…_

 _One…_

" _Kirby, go!"_

The fires were belched out.

The waters came down.

An enormous explosion filled the air.

I heard Spinni and Doc fly into action—

—and before I knew it, they were back, with three Friend Hearts in hand.

Spinni snickered as he held up his two relics. "Got 'em," he said.

"And that makes seventy-nine total Friend Hearts!" Kirby raised his hands into the air and danced around, the fires in his hat almost bellowing in excitement. "Ha ha, we're going places, people! _Awwww, yeah!"_

I grinned and spun my cane around in the air. "We're looking cool, aren't we? Just a little bit more to go."

Only forty-one left, and our collection will be complete.

Until then, the work of the Squeak Squad continues on.

* * *

 _This was a rather… unusual scenario._

 _We had come to the Popopo Islands in search of treasure: specifically, the Medals that my Squeakers had scouted out. I had expected the expedition to go off without a hitch—the only possible issue there was King Dedede in his resort, and he had long since reformed (or so I hear). What was there that could go wrong?_

 _That was before we ran into the Skull Gang and their boss, Necrodeus._

 _Suddenly, we had to pull double-duty, fighting off the Skull Gang and their terrorizing actions while still keeping a lookout for those Medals. They were crafty foes, appearing wherever they wanted and trying to pick us off one-by-one._

 _But I'd be danged if I let them do as they please and smother Pop Star into eternal darkness._

 _Luckily for us, Kirby happened to be around to counteract Necrodeus' efforts—how coincidental, that he would be vacationing in the archipelago while all of this was going on. So it only made sense that we would team up to accomplish each other's objectives._

 _He just had a… small Necrodeus-related status effect to deal with._

 _I sat at the front of my airship and watched the scene before me. Kirbies and Squeaks were scattered about. The Squeakers were playing with some of 'em; Storo was sleeping with two on him; Doc was doing his own thing while they pestered him…_

" _You can be quite childish in your free time, I see," I observed, a twinkle in my eyes. "A far cry from your stint of chasing after cakes—or maybe not too dissimilar."_

 _Kirby—the one next to me; my friend—sighed and leaned against the wall. "Tell me about it. If it wasn't for my heart—" A star-shaped spirit spawned in front of him, spinning and glistening brightly. "—then we'd never get_ anything _done. It's like my younger years all over again, except_ weirder!"

 _I smirked. "I certainly don't envy you. I have my hands full coordinating the Squeak Squad alone. Having only a fraction of your strength each must be a struggle—though I imagine the ability to mass attack your adversaries is fun in its own right."_

" _You're not wrong," he admitted—"I do get a bit of a satisfaction from taking enemies down like this. I… still can't wait until I get to restore myself, though."_

 _I hummed and peered out the window. Dedede's wondrous resort awaited outside, a tropical paradise of splendor and seaside serenity – and also a castle made entirely out of candy. (I have no idea why our esteemed king built that. Or even how he could build it in the first place.) It wasn't my cup of tea, but at the very least it wasn't exactly harming anybody._

" _Y'know, I oughta thank you for being such a good friend!" Kirby said, staring out the glass with me. "I thought I'd be alone out there, having to save the world and myself—so I really appreciate you being here for me! …or us, as the case may be."_

" _I think it should be me thanking you instead," I replied good-naturedly. "After all, we wouldn't have made half the progress we've done without you."_

" _That's just how I am!" he smiled. "Food may be my passion—but friendship will always be my calling. I'm happy to help out a friend, and that's all I need."_

" _How humble of you."_

 _Curious was the arrangement we had going on; in exchange for allies and hints toward furthering his quest, Kirby would give to us as much help as he could offer, be it in Medals or simple menial work._

 _Perhaps it was fate that led to our reunion here on these islands, or simply good fortune. Either way… it is nice, having Kirby as a partner in our escapades this month. He complements my squad in unexpected ways, being so resolute in his heroism and able to get himself through danger while scarcely batting an eye at it._

 _He's brave. A very special kind of brave._

 _That's part of what makes him, him._

 _I'll admit it—he's not just an acquaintance to me, not anymore._

 _He really is… a_ _ **friend.**_

" _Hey, I wonder how Dedede'll react once he seems me," the split puffball began to wonder. His smile widened at the thought. "Betcha his jaw would drop all the way to the other side of Planet Pop Star!"_

" _Hmm…" He_ would _be here, considering this is his resort. "There are good odds that he'd react in a humorous way. 'Reformed' as he is, I imagine few things would surprise him more." I showed my teeth. "He'd never see it coming, that's for sure."_

" _Yep, he wouldn't! It might be even_ easier _for me to win a Gourmet Race like this! Can you imagine it? That trophy would be mine in no time!"_

" _Would that be with a shortcake at the end or without? You seem to be more motivated with one in the equation."_

" _That's a tough question, actually…"_

* * *

"So you wish to take on all of us at once, do you?"

A large Bonkers (EX) towered in front of me and my assorted allies. He was different from the other ones I've seen; he wore a black armored jacket with flame-esque trimmings adorning his sleeves and red pants, and there was a star laying on top of his crimson helmet. His hammer was _very_ large, metallic, and bearing a red-gray color scheme, and his entire form seemed to be glowing like a star.

The entire Squeak Squad was assembled to this makeshift battlefield. Spinni, Storo, Doc, and I were in the frontlines, with the Squeakers acting as distractions should we need it. Not only that, several figures stood by my side—Kirby, King Dedede, Adeleine & Ribbon, and Susie.

"This opponent appears to be a strong one, gang," I remarked, tapping my cane in my palm. "We're gonna need some clever athletics to get past him, methinks."

Dedede snorted, slinging his hammer over his shoulder as always. "What else is new?" he said. "He may have a pretty hefty mallet there—but so do we!"

"You and Kirby, to be accurate," Susie stated. "I prefer using auxiliary technology and armor myself—and artist girl there is most certainly _not_ up for wielding any sort of heavy weapon."

"I don't need one!" Adeleine declared. "I'm fine using what I've got—and what I've got is art to fight a thousand monsters!"

"And don't forget my Crystal Gun, too!" Ribbon chimed in.

The Super Bonkers roared his displeasure at us, forcing us back to attention.

"Welp, this guy may as well be a thousand monsters," Kirby quipped, his own wooden hammer in hand. "Everybody ready to rock and roll?"

"Of course," I replied. "You needn't even ask, Kirby."

We've come so far, and grown to understand much about the natures of our hearts.

Friendship is something very powerful. Something that brings people together, highlighting both their strengths and flaws—and even adding onto said strengths.

Kirby, Hero of the Stars. King Dedede, ruler of Dream Land. Adeleine and Ribbon, my two artistic friends. Everyone here has been affected by the Power of Friendship in some way—even Susie, the secretary-turned-CEO. Our compassion has become a shining star in and of itself, and as it grows, others can find comfort in its light. And that… has led us here.

I know myself. I am Daroach, leader of the Squeak Squad, self-scribed phantom thief and treasure hunter. If there's ancient mysteries to be unearthed, if there's a villain that needs to be defeated, I will be there to take their treasures—with my friends by my side.

I bared my fangs.

"Let us reveal his true form for all to see! _Star Allies, to battle!"_

* * *

 **[N/A]**

 **Dimension III**

None of the Helpers had any idea how the heck they got into this situation.

But what they did know was that it sucked more than Kirby after eating a Miracle Fruit.

"Go, go, go, go, _go go go_ _ **go GO—!"**_ Parasol Dee screamed, flailing her arms about in typical Waddle Dee fashion. _"Don't let it catch us,_ _ **don't let it catch us!"**_

"Bonkers doesn't like this," Bonkers said, his voice notably still stoic and stalwart. "Bonkers would prefer to fight enemies instead!"

"Wouldn't we all like to," Rocky said lowly. He wasn't the Helper you'd normally consider for a leadership position, but he could work with what he had. "Keep moving forward, Helpers—we'll find the end to this place eventually!"

The five friends—Rocky, Bonkers, Brianna, Parasol Dee, Wester—had decided to split from the Star Allies to scout out the edges of Another Dimension ('Better us than you guys out there,' was the justification they had used—'You've got business to take care of!'). They were… coming to regret doing that, seeing as they had been trapped in this hellhole zone.

And it came free with an Advancing Wall of Doom; wonderful!

A perilous obstacle course lay ahead of them—or below them, as the case may be. As the crimson crusher descended upon them, they rushed to hit the next switch and drop down to the next area. A cavalcade of things blocked their way, from _almost_ impassible blocks (thank NOVA that Bonkers and Brianna could deal with them) to spikes and icicles practically littered about the floors and ceilings.

They didn't know _quite_ what would happen if that wall managed to get them – in Another Dimension, you couldn't be sure of anything. But it wouldn't be pretty, and that was enough to keep them moving.

Wester snatched a few pieces of food from the air, tossing some of them to his partners. "Here!" he shouted. "Don't waste it; share it if necessary!"

Brianna the Broom Hatter—flying on her vehicle of choice, naturally—caught the plate of food in her hand. She ended up juggling it a bit thanks to its trajectory, but managed to keep her hold on it. "Don't throw it so hard!" she protested, looking at the cowboy with a somehow stern expression. "You'll turn it into a mess! That's no way to do things!"

"That is _so_ the least of our worries!" Parasol Dee said, letting the breeze carry her past a bed of spikes. "Food is food and heals are heals, no matter how you cut things! So long as we have some, that's one more thing we don't have to worry about!"

Bonkers, meanwhile, simply took the ice cream cone now in his hand and stored it in his inventory for later. He wasn't the brightest of creatures, but he understood the importance of saving stuff for later. Though, there was one thing he noticed that he was quasi-curious about…

"Friends argue about a lot of things," he idly noted to the living rock. "Arguments with smiles sometimes, heated other times. It kind of confusing."

If Rocky could shrug, he would (and if he had the leeway to do so). He briefly slid into a statue form to get through a den of hazards, and replied after detransforming with, "That's just how us Star Allies function, it seems. Best not to question it – it's a good foundation to have, anyway."

Brianna flew to them at a faster pace. "You can say _that_ again! They may verbally fight a lot, but they always get the job done! They're reliable for spring cleaning, at least!"

"Spring cleaning much more relaxing," Bonkers said. "Maybe no hammer, but better for heart to handle."

 _I'd bring up the fact that we're in_ _ **fall**_ _right now, but somehow I don't think it matters._ As they reached a relatively empty straightaway, the Stone Helper said, "Speak about your hobbies later. If I'm right, we shouldn't have much more to go—"

" _ **SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!"**_

Everyone temporarily froze.

"Oh, what _now!?"_ was their general reaction.

The sound was… unsettling, to be sure, but it was hard to really feel the impact thanks to all the chaos going on around them.

"This excursion is getting worse by the day," Wester grumbled. "I think I appreciate peaceful Pop Star a lot more now."

"Wh-Whoever's there," Parasol Dee stammered, "d-don't come any closer! I've got a parasol, a-and I'm not afraid to use it!"

Of course, that didn't stop it from going off a second time – and at a louder volume, too.

" _ **SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!"**_

Rocky snapped out of it. "Deal with it later, folks!" He got back to moving toward the next section of level. "We can't afford to be frozen in fear!"

"Bonkers agrees," so replied the hammer-totting monkey. "Bonkers wants safety today!"

"If we get back home, I swear, I will volunteer for whatever clean-up duties I can find," Brianna vowed—"anything to soothe my nerves after _this_ crazy journey…"

* * *

 **Dimension III – Fifth Hero Trial**

Meanwhile, at the other end of Another Dimension, eight figures led the charge through an almost familiar platforming track.

"Come on, guys!" Chuchu cheered, having latched onto her old spot atop Kirby's head. "We've got one last adventure to pull off together!"

"Yay! Adventure!" Pitch chirped, himself riding atop his oft-times babysitter.

"Yay, adventure," Gooey drooled, sludging side-by-side his oldest friend.

"Yeah, _adventure!"_ Kirby repeated their words, brandishing his broom in his hand. "You can't argue with that, baby!"

Nago sighed—her enthusiasm could prove to be exhausting sometimes, especially for a lethargic layabout like him. Trailing behind the old Dark Matter guard (he refused to have three people on his back at once), he said, "Chuchu, you know we won't be here that long, right? This is only a small part of this 'Another Dimension' place—and we'll be headin' back to the Great Forest once Kirby's done."

"I know, but… hey!" She smiled, brighter than she'd been over the past few hours. "Even if we can't be here forever, we can at least do our best to lend a hand!"

Her smile was almost infectious, based on how Nago's mouth twitched at the edges. "I suppose."

As of late, Cleaning had turned into something of a curiosity for the Star Allies: so long as they were willing, Kirby could summon three specific Animal Buddies—Chuchu, Pitch, and Nago—to help him out, just like old times. Dedede, whilst the gang was in Friendly Field, had commented about it being more of Kirby's 'friendship magic' doing its work – which, as a testament to the puffball himself, was probably the most accurate answer they were going to get.

Nevertheless, the Zero-crisis veterans were more than happy to be here, if only for a few minutes at best.

"This is all pretty ace, if you ask me," Rick said. "Goin' on huge quests is fillin' on its own, but it's even better with all your mates."

"Hope it hasn't been too lonely for you guys back in the forest," Kine added. "I know we can be out and about for quite a while…"

"I think it's okay," Pitch tweeted. "You're doing all you can. We may worry, but we know you'll make it out."

"Dang straight!" Coo preened. "We're the Star Allies, after all! Losing isn't in our dictionary—and neither is being outmatched, even if it doesn't always feel that way!"

"That's not how things were last week," Nago cut in. "I dunno about you, but it's kind of hard to forget you placing 12th after an entire cup in Mario Kart—"

" _We agreed never to speak of that again!"_ the owl cawed indignantly.

"No, Chuchu and Pitch did. I never actually said anything aloud."

"Oh. That's right!" Chuchu realized. "You… didn't." She turned her body to face the cat and scolded him. "You should try to be a little more sympathetic, Nago—everyone has their off days, and that includes Coo!"

"Pfft—you think _that_ was an off day?" Kine snickered, a fin drawn to his lips. "You haven't seen anything yet. Me and Rick have _plenty_ of stories about Coo's not-so-spectacular moments."

"Correct-o-mundo!" Rick piped up. "Hey, did ya hear 'bout the time where Pick and Mine—"

" _Rick, Kine, don't you dare!"_

"This is fun," Gooey drooled as he trudged on over to the next room with everyone. Even through the cotton candy-flavored haze that was his own mind, he could recognize the personal significance of this event. "Everybody is fun. I like it when everyone is here—it's no fun when we have to leave behind friends."

"You're not wrong, Gooey," Kirby grinned, "you're not wrong."

 _Someday, I need to set up a reunion party with_ _ **everyone**_ _invited,_ he idly mused. _Helpers, Harmony Crew, Cappy Town—Gryll, Prince Fluff, Elline, Claycia… it'll be an all-out slam jam with nobody left out, just the way we'd all like it._

 _Oh, and I'd make sure Chuchu, Pitch, and Nago get their time in the spotlight, too. It may have been decades since our last proper adventure together, but that doesn't mean I'm not glad to have me them._

 _They're precious to me. They're friends I couldn't have done without._

 _They deserve to be celebrated, even if it's only a little bit._

Soon enough, the eight Star Allies reached a long, vertical tower, with enemies lying in wait on each new floor. The hero raised an eyebrow for a moment, before putting his broom beneath his feet. "Oh ho ho—looks like this is gonna be a fun 'lil trip!" He tilted his head back, confidently asking, "You guys ready for this?"

Pitch fluttered over to Nago and transformed into a bucket of water in his paws. "I'm ready!" he replied, flapping his tiny wings in enthusiasm. "Take me up, Nago, take me up!"

"Alright, alright," Nago said, the edges of his mouth twitching upward. "Just don't get _too_ excited now…"

The tower rumbled and began to descend into the pit below, but that didn't deter the group at all. Chuchu lifted a tentacle into the air and hollered in delight. "I've always wanted to say this— _let's go, Star Allies!"_

And just like that, several of them flew into action. Kirby and Chuchu rode a broomstick up together, gusts of wind shielding them from harm; Pitch and Nago ascended the old-fashioned way, the cat dishing out watery pain via Pitch to enemies that got too close. It was obvious to onlookers that the three Animal Buddies were having the time of their life, exercising their old skills as they were.

Rick couldn't help but smirk himself. To the rest of the Great Forest crew, he said, "Well, what are we waiting for, mates? We can't let them hog _all_ the spotlight!"

Kine and Coo quickly grouped up with the hamster, Coo carrying the other two up with feathery boomerangs ready to fire. (Gooey, on the other hand, entered his Mock Matter form and merrily floated on up.) "Heard ya the first time, buddy!" the owl said, shooting off after his fellow forest dwellers. "Don't fall outta my claws now; I do _not_ wanna hafta pick you up again!"

"I think it should be _you_ worried about dropping _us…"_ Kine muttered.

"I like flying," Gooey drooled. "Flying is fun with friends."

* * *

" _You spin me right 'round, baby, right 'round; like a record baby, right 'round, 'round 'round~"_

Some would call this specific action a **Friend Circle**. Others would refer to it as a Friend Wheel.

But no matter what the appellation used, the scene going on in Another Dimension's latest trial remained the same.

Barreling across yet another hazardous highway were four wheels of people, formed from the sixteen Star Allies (plus three extras) activating the Friend Platform in separate groups.

Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Bandana Dee were unsurprisingly in the lead, none of them being phased at all by the dizzying motion. The Great Forest residents followed behind them in a comically large bundle; Team Adeleine took to it like a cat took to chasing yarn around; and finally, Magolor, Taranza, and Susie were in their own wheel, unfortunately one short thanks to the logistics of the group divisions.

As with the Friend Train from earlier, this particular event inspired a lot of… interesting feelings from each Star Ally. Case in point…

Dedede was singing a rather antiquated melody— _"You spin me right 'round, baby, right 'round; like a record baby, right 'round, 'round 'round~"_

Kirby laughed, a smile stretching to his cheeks. _"Somebody's_ got affection for those old memes," he teased his best friend. "Got any more to bring back to the surface? 'All your base', Shoop da Whoop—the Rick Roll's still a good candidate, methinks…"

"D-Don't you have a b-bunch of memes of your own?" Bandana Dee brought up. "You use them all the time, a-actually! You with a knife, you looking sad, you being a friend…"

Meta Knight snorted. "Kirby's memes seem to be more centered around his own character, though. Dedede has his 'always perfect' catchphrase, yes, but his repertoire of available memes typically have a much greater variety to them. I've looked through the records of our Discord server, and if one takes a closer look at specific areas of conversation, it is easy to see—"

"Okay, somebody's got too much free time on his hand!" Dedede sniggered. "Aren't you the one who's always sayin' to get more serious to us?"

"Yes. Yes I am," the knight bluntly said. "If that means treating even otherwise irrelevant topics with the utmost importance, then so be it. Besides…" His eyes held a glimmer of amusement. "…the reactions I receive from the rest of our band provides decent entertainment value, wouldn't you say?"

And it was that statement that got Kirby to give out a most sincere smile. "We've really corrupted you over the years," he said. "Ten years ago, you'd be a totally different story."

"Good thing our stories have evolved since," he chuckled. "Much like the memes we use, hopefully."

"U-Uh-huh," Bandana Dee nodded. "That's us! That's the way we work, memes included! …wait, wh-why are we focusing so much on memes?"

It was worth noting that they were having this discussion while in the midst of jumping over a cluster of perilously placed— _and_ spaced—upward ramps.

How they were making it look so easily, nobody really knew. Even the rest of the Star Allies were having a hard time _not_ focusing on the situation at hand.

Speaking of which…

* * *

Team Great Forest

"Wow, wow, wow," Gooey said, "there's a lot of spinning now. I feel very tingly."

"You sure that isn't just all the Dark Matter rushing to your head!?" Nago yelled.

"This feels like sleeping in my nest with Mama," Pitch supplied, somewhere in the ball the seven Dream Friends were clumped up in. "It's comfy."

"Glad someone can be that way," Kine mumbled—"I gotta deal with the ground on-and-off pressing into my sides…"

"Look on the bright side, Kine! This ain't as bad as it could be," Rick tried to reassure him. "We could be dealin' with Nature's Navel or Star Lavadom again."

Coo shuddered. "That'd be almost _worse_ than the rest of this place…!" Razors and red-hot meteors immediately came to mind—any more of that, and he'd be hesitating to continue this journey!

"Pay attention, everyone!" Chuchu interrupted them. "I can jump _for_ us, but not all the time!" She hoisted their ball up as she spoke, their jump arc barely making it onto the next piece of ground. (Thank god for whatever friendship magic was keeping them together like this.) "Don't make me take on _all_ of the load!"

"Sorry!" Rick apologized. "Gettin' back on it!"

* * *

Team Adeleine

"I can't say I've missed being stretched out like this," Daroach admitted, he and the rest of Team Adeleine trailing after the two elder group of Star Allies. "It's unsettling, especially when you've got limbs like mine."

"Try the experience _without_ any hands, then," Marx replied. "I have no idea how I'm staying on this wheel like this."

"Flummoxed for once, are you?" Dark Meta Knight observed with hints of glee. _(Finally, something I can capitalize on!)_ "I see even your rapturous mouth has limits—what a delightful discovery to make."

"Oh, and tell me Darky, how comfortable are _you_ in this?" the ex-final boss retorted. "Don't think I don't see your wings wrapping 'round yourself~"

" _G-Guh—!" I need to stop underestimating his intellect…!_ "Th-That is—! That is a _ridiculously_ bold-faced lie!" he insisted, as he not-so-subtly unwrapped himself from his burrito-esque phase. (Ribbon rolled her eyes; she saw this coming from a mile away.) "At least I have more methods available for comfort!"

"Does comfort really matter at this point?" Adeleine lightheartedly snarked. "I mean, we're all equally kinda uncomfortable for various reasons. Ribbon and I survived puberty ourselves, so…"

"What was that like, by the way?" Marx asked, curious.

"A crisis all on its own," _as Kirby and Dedede often say it was._ "I don't recommend it."

"There was a lot of screaming," Ribbon supplied. "Also dying. Metaphorically dying."

"My condolences," Daroach stated. "Growing up can be awkward in its own right. It wasn't too painful, was it?"

"Let's just say we needed to pull in Peach and Samus for help and leave it at that. L-Look, I think I see a Friend Heart up ahead…!"

* * *

Team… Redeemed? Galaxy? Magolor? _(…we'll think of something later.)_

"And here I thought things couldn't get more degrading than the 'Friend Bridge'…" Susie grumbled, her eyes half-lidded in irritation. "Does some higher power wish for me to suffer? Is this my penance for… whatever crimes I've ended up committing?"

"Well, I heard _your_ Heel-Face Turn was essentially only a few hours ago," Magolor commented, notably more 'used to things' than his other two companions. "So that might be a factor."

"It—It could be worse, I th-think!" Taranza chimed in. "You could be—could be doing menial work! Like, u-uhh… chores, and weed-plucking, and… I'm out of ideas already."

"That was fast," Magolor quipped.

"Hmm… You have a point, Taranza," the CEO replied. "I suppose Pinky could've subjected me to worse. And that king I cloned. And my… _former_ security guard…" She paused. "…suddenly, I feel intensely fortunate about my lack of severe punishment."

"They're a rather forgiving sort," the mage affirmed. "The Harmony Crew was accepted pretty easily, despite everything—though, I think that was because of… all the regret and bad hands dealt." Underneath his scarf, he sighed. "That's a topic for another time, though—c'mon, it's almost time to get busy again."

"I—I thought we were _already_ b-busy as it was," Taranza interjected.

"Yeah, but… there's busy and there's busi _er._ Trust me, you'll learn to decipher the difference soon enough!"

"…do we really want to?" Susie deadpanned.

* * *

 **Dimension III – Sacred Haven**

At last, the Star Allies had arrived at the end to this dimension, where another temple lay pristine and untouched by the madness of its home realm.

This one, notably, stood out from the previous one by being far more vertical: column and pillars rose high above the Star Allies' heads, with the background structures overall being far less haphazard in their presentation. Plant life seemed to be growing over the walls, somehow adding to the holy aura the locale was emanating.

It was a… welcome reprieve, if an inevitably short one.

"Phew! We made it!" Kirby exclaimed, wiping some sweat from his forehead. "Took us like an hour or two more than last time, but we made it all the same!"

"Talk about chaotic…" Magolor muttered. "This place has got to be half-sentient, I swear – there's no way there should be so much going on, dimensional fluctuation or not."

"Perhaps that is a consequence of the Jambandra Cult's primary goal," Dark Meta Knight guessed—"they seek to revive Void Termina, and thus his corrupted soul is tainting the entire realm."

Coo squawked. "That's too terrifying for words! As if being an all-powerful Destroyer of Worlds wasn't enough…!?"

"I desperately hope that isn't true," Kine gulped. "I dunno how we're gonna fight that without a literal god helping us out…"

Chuchu frowned as she listened in. "Void Termina… jeez, that's _really_ an ominous name," she noted. "He sounds like if Zero and… some other evil bad guy had a baby."

"You mean every villain _isn't_ just Dark Matter under different names?" Nago snarked.

As the Star Allies trekked up the virtual tower, a sense of familiarity became ever more palpable to Meta Knight.

"This place… it's a direct match for the **Sacred Square** ," he spoke up. "I would recognize those aesthetics anywhere—I was even training there with my Meta-Knights prior to this new crisis."

"Hmm… I think I can see the pattern developing here," Kirby said. "You, Whispy, Kracko—all three of you were infected by the Jamba Hearts. And that's led to your Parallel forms being turning up in Another Dimension."

"So that means we've got mirror matches of me and Meta Knight waiting in the wings," Dedede grimaced. "That's… not good. Alone, the two of us are pretty strong—two of the strongest guys here, in fact. Add in all the buffs Another Dimension has been giving everyone…"

A silence briefly washed over the party.

"Good thing we'll be outnumbering him sixteen to one," Marx said, after taking a moment to think. "Or would that be sixteen to four? Mmm… what a tough question!"

Bandana Dee breathed in and out, in and out – by this point, he was more resigned to this kind of stuff happening than anything else. (There were limits to how far one's trepidation at the end of the world could go, especially after repeat occurrences.) "It doesn't matter," he said, spinning his electrified spear over his head. "We've still got work to take care of, a-and it's not gonna go away 'til we g-get it done!"

"You said it," Adeleine agreed. "We've conquered two Parallel Bosses already; we can conquer two more!"

As they came to the first set of Copy Essences, the three auxiliary Animal Buddies smiled on their friends' behalf. "Good luck with your boss battle, then!" Chuchu cheered them on. "We'll be praying for your safe return!"

"Make sure you show the bad guys how to be a friend!" Pitch chirped. "Mama would like that a lot."

Kirby grinned in response, holding the Ability Star for Cleaning up high. "Hey, you know who we are! Come what may, we'll get through this the same way we always have!" He tossed the star over his shoulder, and—given the unique nature of that specific Copy Ability—it transformed into a Warp Hole back to Jambandra Base. "We'll see you guys again in a bit."

Nago grunted. "Don't die on us now, Kirbs."

The trio hopped on into the Warp Hole—and with that out of the way, it was back to business.

Kirby elected to pick up Sword for the fight ahead (Meta Knight and Dark Meta Knight instinctively nodded in approval). _It's no Master,_ he thought, _but I can make it work either way._ A moment extra to give it the Sizzle element, and he was off.

He hit the nearby switch and moved up the set of stairs that appeared, the other Star Allies following his lead. Before too long, they reached the boss gate, standing on its lonesome on an isolated island.

There was nothing more that needed to be said. The stakes had been long since established, and they knew exactly what to expect.

"Once more unto the breach," the puffball said quietly. He opened his eyes. "Alright. _**Let's go!"**_

* * *

 **Location:**?

Ominous pink clouds hovered overhead, blanketing the sky in crimson-touched darkness. Mountains and rock spires – with a color scheme made up of purples and blacks – could be seen in the background, a large chasm between them and the circular arena the Star Allies had walked into.

It felt like there was something sinister in the air, a promise of devastation waiting to come out from around the corner.

And if one happened to look up… they'd find out that they were right to worry about that 'promise'.

A little northwest of the Star Allies, there was a pillar—a pillar with a small platform attached near its top. A small figure with a white cape stood atop the cliff, his back facing the associated Dream Friends. Sixteen pairs of eyes laid upon his form, watching carefully for the slightest trace of movement.

A few seconds passed.

He turned around.

His cape turned into wings, and revealed himself to be Meta Knight, clad in golden armor and bearing a pitch-black body. He pointed a twisted version of Galaxia at the Star Allies with palpable _menace,_ red-hot eyes glowering straight into their souls.

 _ **You,**_ he seemed to say without words. _**Prepare yourself.**_

Otherworldly Frost Blade  
 **Parallel Meta Knight**

The two real Meta Knights (and their allies) glared back, Bluster-wrapped weapons at the ready.

"Another counterpart to clash my blade against…" Meta Knight mused. "Fate loves to deliver to me trials like no other, it see."

"That is fine by me," Dark Meta Knight smirked. "No target can resist the call of death—if he wishes to fall by our hands, then so be it!"

"Brace yourselves, everybody!" Kirby shouted, as the warrior took off from his platform and let it crumble into dust—"he's coming on in, fast and furious!"

* * *

 **VS. Parallel Meta Knight**

Even Meta Knight could not resist the power of the Jamba Hearts—and as a result, a deviant corruption of his usual chivalrous form is now in Another Dimension. As an agent of chaos, this warrior will do all he can to defend his territory from intruders!

* * *

The third Heavenly King landed in the middle of the arena and wasted no time in letting his opponents know of his distaste for them. With a quick, horizontal slice of Galaxia, he sent out a large sword beam rushing at the crew, and had them flailing about to avoid the attack in time.

" _WAAA-A-A-A-A-AAAH—!"_

" _Too fast, too fast,_ _ **too fast—!"**_

" _No fair, you little douchebag—!"_

The various Star Allies reacted by either dramatically jumping away or using their flight to avoid the sudden attack (or, if they were like Gooey—and by that, I meant _only_ Gooey did this—they just simply ducked under it). The sharp weapon-users retaliated by coming at Parallel Meta Knight four-on-one, attempting to press him through their clear numbers advantage.

Alas, their foe had far too much battle prowess to let such an epic drawback hinder him in any way—and he proved himself quite capable of taking on the sixteen alone by managing to block each blade and spear-point with little difficulty.

 _TANG!_

 _ **CLANG!**_

 _TANG!_

 _ **CLANG!**_

" _Somebody_ ate too much chocolate before bed today," Kirby said, a puzzled frown on his mouth. Each crash of their swords created miniature explosions thanks to Kirby's chosen element, with similar things transpiring with his three companions' own Power Effects. "He's moving as fast as Zan Partizanne, and that's saying something!"

A sweatdrop fell down the side of Bandana Dee's head, as he put his focus toward repeatedly thrusting his spear at the doppelganger. He was getting a few hits in, but nowhere near as much as he'd like. "Ugh…! He's—He's like G-Galacta Knight and Morpho Knight, b-but on _steroids…!"_

Meta Knight grunted. "This is only the beginning of our battle," he got out in a clipped voice—"there are plenty more strategies to try. With luck, we will be able to outlast his defense—I guarantee it!"

"Will that take ten minutes, or fifty?" the pink puffball asked. "'Cause you can never really tell with these… crazier-than-normal True Arena candidates!"

"Alone, I'd place good odds on at least thirty," Dark Meta Knight said. "Luckily… we aren't alone."

A sea of Crystal Shards and Revolution Orbs began to fly at Parallel Meta Knight, working in tandem with the four Star Allies' efforts. From higher up, Adeleine, Ribbon, and Magolor were firing their respective weapons while staying on the move. They were joined by Marx, Gooey, and Daroach, acting as a makeshift protection force for them.

"Pew pew, pew pew!" Ribbon smugly pronounced.

"They say never to bring a gun to a sword fight," Magolor said aloud, eyes gleaming, "but that doesn't mean magic can't factor into the equation!"

"I don't think that's how the phrase go," Marx amusedly noted.

"Who cares? So long as you can get a retort in, you can say practically _anything!"_

Approximately a dozen shots splashed off the EX Boss before he decided to counterattack. He briefly charged up energy and unleashed it as a massive tornado, blowing away the four warriors close to him in three seconds flat. Meta Knight and Dark Meta Knight easily rebounded through flapping their wings, but not in time to prevent their counterpart from going after the airborne crew.

Four faces expressed shock, despite themselves. Gooey spat out purple bolts at Parallel Meta Knight, Daroach staging a similar action with his Triple Star Cane—the doppelganger deflected the Star Bullets and tanked the Dark Matter blob's sparks, and sped up his movement to mitigate the damage.

" _Marx,_ _ **go!"**_

" _On it, Addie!"_

The jester shot off in a Rush, eyes narrowed in utmost seriousness (for once). Farther out, Meta Knight and Dark Meta Knight were diving toward their target at a similar velocity. The moment his and the Meta Knights' gazes locked, they knew what to do: double-team the incoming adversary, and keep him from the rest of their friends.

Once Marx reached him, Parallel Meta Knight screeched to a halt and performed a vertical spin attack at him. Unimpressed, the clown barrel-rolled out of range and shot several electrified arrows; the false warrior raised his guard and let the majority of them ricochet off his blade. Meta Knight showed up soon after, to which his opponent replied by giving to him a vicious Hyper Rush.

" _G-Guh—!"_ The cerulean knight held his ground, but fell victim to a well-placed thrust hitting its mark. Parallel Meta Knight had little time to relish in it, though, before Dark Meta Knight made his entrance through a shimmering mirror shard.

"It is almost commendable, what your skillset has allowed you to attain," he acknowledged—"but I decree, here and now, that you shall _accomplish_ _ **no more!"**_

The EX Boss swung his sword twice and sent a volley of fast-moving Crescent Shots his way. Dark Meta Knight spun his sword and promptly formed a barrier around himself, turning the projectiles into reflected shots hurtling back at their creator. As the interdimensional entity occupied himself with Shuttle Looping over them, Marx made his move: he latched onto him tightly with his claws and dovetailed to the floor.

" _We're going_ _ **flying!"**_ cackled the jester. _"Wooooooooooo~!"_

They hit the ground in no time at all—but whereas Marx sank into the shadows without harm, Parallel Meta Knight ended up being slammed hard against the stone surface. This was followed up by the ex-final boss bursting out and essentially uppercutting him like an echidna would a hedgehog.

A low growl came from his mouth. As Marx came down, he dashed forward and caught him in an upward slice. A brutal combo of aerial slashes ensued, the knight seemingly warping from position to position with every cut. Finally, he returned the favor to the clown and smashed him onto the pavement – and then, he zipped to the rest of the grounded Star Allies, delivering a devastating slash to Susie's Business Suit as it came cycling in.

The former secretary grit her teeth. "All of his skill, none of the honor…" she noted, her analytic mind rotating its gears. "If I had the time, or was equipped to do so, I'd be collecting a lot of battle data right now."

"You're—You're gonna have to—h-hold off on that, Susie!" Taranza said, desperately erecting Dreamstalks as shields (which Parallel Meta Knight was cutting through). "'Cause right now, I—I just wanna have my everything intact!"

The airborne Star Allies landed next to Dedede and the Animal Buddies, joined by a recovered Kirby and Bandana Dee. "He's good at cycling 'tween us all," Rick said. "I don't think we could come the raw prawn with him."

"As if we could do anything without getting sliced 'n diced to oblivion," Coo grumbled.

"He's a lot more aggressive than Meta Knight ever was," Kirby agreed. "And it doesn't help that he's a much smaller target than Whispy and Kracko."

"That means we gotta look at this problem differently," Adeleine said, gripping her paintbrush firmly. "If we keep at it, we'll come out on top—it's just a matter of figuring out a new strategy!"

 _And then another, and then another, and then another,_ Dedede internally snarked.

They returned their attention to the ongoing fight. Marx, the Meta Knights, Taranza, and Susie were simultaneously engaging Parallel Meta Knight, and the latter was noticeably having trouble dealing with their differing battle styles at once: beach balls and magic spheres were coming from one direction, and two attacking blades from the other. Susie was hanging behind and firing several Drillbits, aiming to trip the Parallel Boss by limiting his movements.

Kirby held his sword to his side, his frown turning into a more-and-more-determined smile by the second. "Good news, I've got a strategy already: gang up on him with everything we've got!" He ran back into the fray, exclaiming, _"Hey, guys! Got room for a few more Star Allies?"_

King Dedede and Bandana Dee both blinked, before jumping in after their best friend. "H-Hold up, Kirby!" the regent said. "Don't leave us outta this!"

"Y-Yeah! I—I wanna fight this not-Meta Knight, t-too!"

Chaos reigned in no time flat. No matter how experienced you were or how much strength you wield, fighting sixteen opponents at the same time was a daunting task, especially when they knew how to work together. Damage was taken on both sides of the equation, naturally—but luckily for the Star Allies, they had the luxury of having Adeleine and Ribbon on hand for emergency healing.

If Parallel Meta Knight had only himself (and _one_ version of himself, at that) to even the odds, chances were high that he'd get curb-stomped into the void.

That wasn't all he had on hand, though. Not by a long shot.

Approximately three dozen different hits sustained later, the EX Boss wrapped himself with his cape and flew above the chasm in the background. That familiar purple aura, characteristic of the Jamba Heart that had given him form, had flared up and was growing to cover his entire form.

"Oh, he's cloning himself again," Gooey pointed out.

As noted by the blob, the fireball that their challenger had become had split into four—and they were coalescing into being at a fast rate. Soon enough, there were _five_ Parallel Meta Knights on the field, each equal in power to the lone knight.

" _F-F-F-_ _ **Five!?"**_ Bandana Dee panicked. _"Why_ _ **five!?"**_

"So, this is where the real fight begins," Daroach said. "Five bosses for us sixteen to steal victory from."

"How… pedestrian," Dark Meta Knight said, blasély. "One more clone will not give him any more of an advantage."

"It's nothing we can't handle, anyway!" Ribbon piped up, Crystal Gun pointed at the new quintet. "We did this 11-v-4, so we can totally do 16-v-5, EX Boss or not!"

The gathered heroes tensed, prepping themselves to split into their usual groups and get to work. The Parallel Meta Brigade, instead of swooping in to continue the conflict, simply raised their swords to the air and grunted in unison.

 _ **Behold, Star Allies,**_ they seemed to announce— _ **our power, without rival!**_

Out of the blue, the ground began to rumble intensely, accompanied by the intensifying the sound of turbines and the like. A shape emerged from over the cliff—that of an airship with an elongated hull and four bat-like wings, a familiar mask attached to its front. It wasn't the largest aircraft in the world, being roughly the length of the chasm—but it mattered little, given the relative size difference between it and the Star Allies.

"This… suddenly got a lot more troublesome," Kine said, dismay in his voice.

"I know that ship," Susie realized immediately. "I've seen it twice before…!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, _what the heck!?"_ Dedede flinched. _"Are—Are you_ _ **kidding me!?"**_

" _Im—Impossible!"_ Meta Knight gawked—actually _gawked._ "It cannot be…!"

Otherworldly Battleship  
 **Parallel Halberd**

"The **Battleship Halberd** , _here!?"_

* * *

 **VS. Parallel Halberd**

Heavenly Kings do not stand alone: Parallel Meta Knight, in order to even the odds, has summoned his own minions to fight our heroes, complete with a fully functional Battleship Halberd! Watch out for that devastating Combo Cannon—it'll wreck you in seconds!

* * *

"…okay, new plan," Kirby said—"we need to split up! That mini-Halberd needs to go down, and fast!

"Adeleine, get your crew over to the ship's main deck—that Combo Cannon'll give us a hard time, if we let it fire its laser blast at us! Bring the Animal Buddies and Gooey, too! Everyone else, stay with me and deal with this glorified palette swap times five!" He swished his flaming sword and steadied his feet on the ground. "No more games—it's time to get _really_ serious!"

" _Gotcha!"_

" _On it, Kirbs!"_

" _Serious is delicious."_

Nine Dream Friends nodded as one, and took off toward the now sky-high Parallel Halberd. One of the Parallel Meta Knights noticed, and chased them to the battleship; the other four remained where they were, staring down the oldest and newest Star Allies.

"This makes, what, the _fifth_ knight of your kind we've encountered, Meta?" Dedede casually mentioned, slinging his frozen hammer over his shoulder. "I mean, there's the other you, Dark Meta, Galacta, Morpho…"

"Yeah, the universe seems to like you the same way it likes seeing Dedede get possessed," Kirby blithely stated.

"To be fair, I _did_ stylize myself after the knights of yore," Meta Knight replied, without missing a beat. "Though, I… didn't expect these side-effects to occur."

"Conclusion's the same, either way," Magolor quickly said. "Four evil dudes' gotta die, and they ain't gonna do it themselves!"

Similar to their previous opening move, the quartet of Parallel Meta Knights barraged the seven Star Allies with Crescent Shots galore.

" _Time for a_ _ **real**_ _mirror match!"_

In a flash, Kirby decided to eschew the traditional sword-to-sword gimmick and activate Mirror. He brought up his hands and summoned a large rainbow barrier to cover his crew—and though he was successful at deflecting the projectiles, it strained him considerably.

Luckily, he didn't have to hold it up for any longer than that. It faded soon after—and his call of _**"Go!"**_ promptly got everyone soaring into action.

Meta Knight dashed in and took on a counterpart on his own. _"I've got this one!"_

Dedede and Bandana Dee jumped off to the side and lured another to them. "Alright—me and Dee'll deal with this one, then!"

" _What Great King said!"_

"Hee hee hee…" Susie made her Business Suit hover in the air, Taranza latching onto its back. Its arms were whirling around, generating some incredibly strong winds. "Taranza and I will be more than enough for one." She glared at the third EX Boss, drawing him away from the others.

"Y-Y-You got it! I mean, we—we got it!"

"And I guess that saves the last one for me and Kirby!" Magolor said, tossing a Gem Apple up and down. "Good odds, I say!"

"You know it, Magolor," Kirby said. He pointed his prismatic wand at the lone remaining target. "Okay, here we go!"

Parallel Meta Knight the Fourth spun in a revolution and Drill Rushed at the alien duo. Both warped out of the way, Kirby reappearing directly behind him and firing glass shards into his back. Two clones of Kirby—illusions, sharp as mirrors—spawned beside him and initiated their own stream of attacks, two more appearing after them to help reflect beams of light at him. The EX Boss recovered swiftly with a Mach Tornado and swerved into all of them—but none of them proved to be the real Kirby, instead shattering into pieces.

A trio of Gem Apples landed on his head and exploded. Irritated, he looked to the sky and saw Magolor, cheekily waving with a few more stacked on his palm.

"Looking for me?" he asked.

The knight glided speedily to his position, unleashing a series of thrusts and slashes, which the mage blocked with his own Magic Barrier. He promptly sidestepped it and physically grabbed him _("That—That didn't stop you—!?"),_ supplying a three harsh diagonal slashes before sending him away with an equally harsh kick.

Which was when several illusionary Kirbies, making a drill formation, came down and struck him dead-on. They dug painfully into him, spinning about rapidly like a… well, a drill, and didn't stop until they hit the floor. They jumped off just as he started to spin himself and summon a vicious red-and-yellow tornado (which was also electrified, because of course it was).

It quickly picked up gales and almost threw the pink puffball off his feet. _"Wa-Wah—!"_ he yelped, undignifiedly. "He's got—that technique, too!?"

Parallel Meta Knight then had said technique—the **Super Mach Tornado** —split into three separate tornadoes and shoot off in opposite directions. Kirby's eyes widened—"Oh boy…!"—and he himself divided into two mirror copies, in time for the cyclone to just barely whiz by him.

The lone cyclone traveled relatively far, making its way toward a king and assistant's corner of the battleground. As the royal duo braced themselves against the hurricane, Parallel Meta Knight the Second let himself be drawn to its epicenter, taking over control of the twister entirely.

"Wannabe force of nature, aren't ya?" Dedede snorted. "Dunno where you got that crazy twister from, but it ain't gonna do you a lick of good!"

"You better listen to Great King!" Bandana Dee cupped his hands and yelled. "We're not afraid to give you the beatdown of a lifetime!"

Parallel Meta Knight created half-a-dozen tornadoes of the same size, all whirling at the same velocity. They circled around him and his two enemies, the latter warily watching their trajectories.

The dimensional doppelganger's next move was to drop the Super Mach Tornado and swoop straight into Bandana Dee.

" _No no no no_ _ **no—!"**_

" _Bandana Dee!"_

The assistant squealed and was thrown into the air, right into one of the tornadoes rotating around. It spat him back out vertically, where the false warrior succeeded things with several quick divebombs in a row. He finished by kicking the poor Dee across the field and into another swirling tornado, intending to keep his chain of attacks going.

He did another Drill Dive toward him—but was interrupted midway by Dee's Great King jumping and rolling his hammer into him. He dropped to the ground in surprise.

"Sorry, Not-Meta," Dedede said—"but your beef's with _me!"_ He leaped high into the air and _squashed_ the clone of his friend, then hit him a few more times with a spin cycle. The last hit he dealt flung him away like a golf ball at Dedede's counterpart would-be country club.

"Ha!" the king preened. "How's _that_ for a combo?"

The knight righted himself in moments flat, and aimed his Galaxia at the penguin.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "Not impressed? Well, aren't you drier than old Meta?"

He took a step forward, only to be interrupted by several spears being tossed his way. Deflecting them, he saw Bandana Dee hopping from twister to twister, somehow managing to keep his balance as he hurled spear after electrified spear.

"I'm—I'm not just another pretty face!" he exclaimed—"I'm as strong as Great King, and don't you forget it!"

"Up and at 'em, Dee!" Dedede jumped close to Parallel Meta Knight and—to further distract him—started dishing out his own string of hammer strikes. "C'mon, buddy, see if you can keep up with the both of us!"

While the four Star Allies and two EX Bosses were preoccupied on land, a different battle was taking place in the air. Taranza had borrowed two of Susie's blasters and had taken the job of blasting away at Parallel Meta Knight the Third, while the ex-secretary maneuvered them around both the knight and his attacks. "S-S-Stay still!" the arachnid shouted to him. "D-Don't make this h-harder than it needs to be!"

Susie leaned hard in her seat, moving her Business Suit above a fired Crescent Shot from Parallel Meta Knight. Her bulky mech wasn't exactly situated for fights like this—i.e. facing off against Lightning Bruisers, flying or otherwise—but it was sturdy enough to endure their opponent's fury, at the very least. _Still…_

"He's moving at too fast a speed," she stated, hitting a few buttons on her control panel. A barrage of Drillbits emerged from her mech and rocketed at their golden adversary; his defending against them left him wide-open for the upward twisters from her blasters. "I can barely keep up with him as it is."

"A-And we can't attack _him_ a-as easily as he can attack _us,_ e-either." Taranza's lip trembled as he made his frustration clear. "I should've t-trained more in swordplay," he lamented—"then we wouldn't b-b- _be_ in this s-situation!"

Susie paused. _Hmm… Maybe…_ She dug through her pockets and handed her colleague a strange-looking hilt, with the crossguard themed after her armor's arms. There was even a miniature cockpit atop it, just like the real thing.

"Huh? Susie, what's…?" He pressed a button, and was startled by a plasma blade shooting out of it. _"A-Ahhhhhhhhh!?"_

"I understand swordplay's not your forte, Taranza, and it's… fine that it isn't." Susie's face radiated discomfort – reassuring people wasn't her greatest strength either – but dang it, she was a Star Ally; she had to _try!_ "But if we're gonna get through this, we need multiple angles of attack. I'm trusting you with my Bolt Blade. Don't mess up."

To his credit, Taranza didn't hesitate to adapt. "O-Okay, Susie!" He dropped the blaster into her cockpit and flew off, two out of six hands gripping the lightsaber tightly. With a mighty cry, he teleported to Parallel Meta Knight and began wildly flailing her custom weapon at him. Luckily, the knight was caught off-guard by this, allowing the arachnid to get a few good hits in.

Susie's brow furrowed, but just rolled with it. "Sloppy performance, but… I suppose it'll do." She kicked her mech into gear, launching Drillbit after Drillbit as she went. "Time for Extermination by Blaster!"

Further away, an explosive high-speed duel was occurring. Two blurs were repeatedly crashing into each other, the sounds of metal swords clashing echoing off the walls.

"Hngh! You are quite formidable," Meta Knight conceded, locking blades with Parallel Meta Knight the First. "If I didn't know any better, I could mistake you for having Galacta Knight's level of power."

He backflipped and dove into his foe, attacking in a rapid yet controlled fashion. His golden counterpart flinched and actually took damage from some of the strikes, and an attempted Counter Slash missed its mark thanks to Meta Knight's quick dodging. He kept at it, using every bit of his thousand-plus years of skill to upend their short-lived stalemate.

"Unfortunately for you," he continued, "I still recognize my own abilities, perverted as you've made them. And I can neutralize them as easily as I can match them." To demonstrate, he masterfully broke through Parallel Meta Knight's guard with the tip of his sword and used a Mach Tornado combined with a downward thrust on him. "You have not my heart, nor the friendships that drive me to fight on. There is no chance that you will achieve victory."

Parallel Meta Knight the First didn't respond verbally. Instead, he attempted to plunge into the Dream Friend from above. Meta Knight swerved out of the way and sent a simple Sword Beam his way. That was swiftly offset by several energy swords being summoned at him Galacta Knight-style, dissipating the Sword Beam as they went.

The azure knight deflected a few of them away. "You will struggle until the bitter end, I see. Not surprising. I am much the same way." He narrowed his eyes and leveled Galaxia at the masked menace. "No matter—the Star Allies and I have a mission to accomplish, and we won't let you get in our way. _En garde!"_

The two Greatest Warriors in the Galaxy resumed their one-on-one duel, veering all over the battleground at frightening velocities. They danced around the other nine attendees, everyone fiercely fighting to defend what they held most dear. Projectiles and weapons flew about wildly, from mirror shards and magic spheres to hammers and spears—but that wasn't all that was going on.

A gleam could be seen from the Parallel Halberd—specifically, where its Combo Cannon was situated. That gleam soon got brighter and brighter, until it became almost _blinding—_

Meta Knight's eyes briefly widened. _"Kirby! Everyone!_ _ **Incoming!"**_

Kirby and Magolor tilted their heads to the sky, as did the rest of the Star Allies. Their instincts immediately flared up, and they zipped to the edge of the battlefield… right as a massive laser blast collided with the arena, narrowly missing them by inches.

"And there it is!" Kirby flicked his hand. "Yeah, I _really_ don't wanna get hit by that – it's bigger than I remember!"

"I want that!" Magolor gaped. "I—I could do a _lotta_ things if the Lor had _that!"_

Dedede grit his teeth. "Another thing to add to the pile, huh…!?"

"I hope Adeleine and everyone else has things handled up there," Bandana Dee said—"'cause I'm not looking forward to dealing with that!"

Taranza reeled back as Parallel Meta Knight the Third struck his Susian Bolt Blade. "I—I hope so, t-t-too!" He called on a Taranza Burst and warped to temporary safety. "The faster th-they do, the better…!"

* * *

 **[Dark Meta Knight]**

 **Parallel Halberd – Main Deck**

Onboard the replica of my counterpart's trademark battleship, my allies and I faced our own tumultuous trials.

The Combo Cannon (EX?)—or so Kirby called it—was at the moment another nightmare atop an already-present one. A triad of extendable arms were emerging from its behind, lobbing bombs at us as if it were a Poppy Bros. Sr. having consumed far too much chocolate for my liking. The laser cannon fired intermittently, forcing us to break off our assaults and take to the skies to avoid it—and the barrel had a habit of rapid-firing cannonballs at us as well, further elevation our caution levels.

Not to mention… that dratted duplicate refused to leave us alone.

Rick, Kine, Coo, and Gooey had undertaken the task of diverting his attention to them instead, but it was only another part of our careful balancing act.

Everything in this skirmish was designed for us to know the upper bounds of our limits—and to survive as they are put to the test.

 _Failure was not an option._

Adeleine summoned her painter's canvas and managed to stop another series of cannonballs, though she suffered decent amounts of recoil from it. "Come on…!" she hissed, peeking out to splash some damaging dye onto a hapless Gim. "Are we doing _anything_ to that humongous hunk of junk!?"

I vertically sliced a periwinkle Plasma Wisp where he stood—these fools would be better served working to keep this vessel operational, however fruitless those pitiful efforts will become. "Do not lose faith, Adeleine," I told her—"this contraption shall fall, for I forbid it to do otherwise!"

"Don't make promises you'll have hard time keeping, Darky!" Above us, Marx was kicking beach balls into our target; I suspect that he was attempting to obstruct its firing mechanism. (The damned thing was swiveling too quickly for him to achieve the perfect shot, however.) "It's been several minutes and this thing isn't even _close_ to running outta steam!"

"It's hard to get close to it too, what with the way it's protecting itself," Ribbon added.

I shot three Crescent Shots at the cannon's main turret. As was expected, that failed to visibly put even a scratch on this otherworldly device. In fact, its controllers reacted by accelerating the rate at which it chucked explosives in our direction. "Even so, we must prevail!" I growled. "The fate of our galaxy rests upon our ability to withstand that which would down weaker opponents! Should this cannon remain standing evermore, then that simply necessitates that I _personally rise up and_ _ **move Mirror Galaxia right into their orif—"**_

"Wow, aren't _you_ edgy today?" The jester dropped down and snuggled up to my mask. "And here I thought you were going to shower them in sunshine and lollipops!"

We momentarily fought back-to-back, engaging a quartet of Burning Leos in harmony. Sword slashes and wind cutters flowed elegantly from our respective forms, giving unto our enemies a taste of our unbridled fury and passion—that which is seeped in the art of war.

"As if," I replied to him, batting away one of the flung bombs. That would be the dichotomy of the _rest_ of the Star Allies, barring my counterpart and Susie's atypical characters. "There is a place for diplomacy and 'friend-making', as you know, and this is not it."

"Action always was more my fancy, anyway." Daroach teleported into range and tossed a few pieces of food to the four of us, which we ate without question. Never does he fail to make good use of his thieving abilities; as uncouth as they are, I can appreciate the pragmatism he brings to our roster. "Best we move quickly to steal this army's hearts—or else that cannon of theirs might actually hit their targets."

He didn't need to detail anything more—the ever-present threat of the other four Parallel Deviants was enough. "A renewed assault should be the solution," I decided. "Sturdy this Combo Cannon may be, but it has nothing on our combined might! _We shall have lightning crash through their souls, and_ _ **fire scorch their limbs to ash!"**_

Adeleine spun to the front of her canvas and equipped her signature palette alongside her paintbrush. "Yeah, we'll do that! Just not so violently." She swiftly drew Kracko's visage and mounted the appearing construct. "We'll go on three, everybody."

The turret and laser cannon both aimed at us.

"One!"

The conscious parallel troops started to surround us.

"Two!"

Elements and weapons of all types were readied.

" _Three!"_

We launched ourselves into the air, dodging the flurry of explosions and attacks erupting from our previous positions. With wings and magic keeping us airborne, we charged toward the cannon's barrel and stormed it in true Star Allies fashion—together, with emotion.

Adeleine and Ribbon used their vehicle to strike the device with lightning bolts. Marx laughed and dropped beach ball after beach ball, each a miniature inferno. Daroach alternated using his Triple Star Cane and his supply of bombs.

And I?

I utilized my years of experience to tear the thing to shreds as best as I could.

Which was quite the high ceiling, obviously—as if I could accept any other result.

As I had predicted, significant amounts of damage were at last being done to the Combo Cannon EX. If we stuck with this method of attack, then there should be no reason why wouldn't be able to triumph.

But then…

" _SQUAWK!"_

" _INCOMING!"_

Something impacted me from behind, and I ended up sprawled over the floor. _"G-GUH!?_ What—What is…!?"

I turned my head to see Rick, Kine, and Coo lying on me, eyes in a dizzied state. (Gooey was rolling around nearby.)

"Yow-wow-wow…" Rick muttered.

"Weapon carrying's looking more like a good idea every minute…" Coo grumbled.

My heart dropped—if they were here now…

Before I could continue that train of thought, that Parallel Deviant dove into me.

" _Grrrrrrr…!_ It isn't enough that you insult me and my counterpart by existing—you _dare_ to approach me in such a way…!?"

We engaged each other with our respective Galaxias, I desperately trying to get him off of me, him determined to take me out by any means necessary. His blade moved fast and furiously, a true challenge to deal with. My being caught off-guard didn't help the situation, either—and even worse…

 _ **CLANG!**_

…he had even _more_ assistance on his side.

A humongous machine—a silver-colored Heavy Lobster, bigger than the one my counterpart had—descended from the sky and landed on me, trapping me beneath its weight. "Agh—! N-No…!"

"H-Hey! Wh-Where did you—!? Huh!?"

"How careless of me, to get caught like this…"

I looked up, and witnessed Marx and Daroach caught in the robot's two massive claws. It had a strong grip based on what I could see, strong enough to leave my two friends unable to escape it. I struggled and struggled, but it merely crushed me further underfoot.

 _Ugh…! This can't be…!_

"Marx! Daroach! Are you still well!?"

"Kind of, Darky!" the jester wheezed, visibly trying to extend a wing. Unfortunately, it didn't help him much. "I… I can't believe _this_ is what I was defeated by…"

I dimly hummed. "Not the most graceful of falls…" I agreed.

" _ **Marx! Boss! Dark Meta Knight!"**_

The Squeak Squad attempted to step in and rescue us, but red lights and smoke billowing from the Heavy Lobster's claws indicated that would be a bad idea. As such, it kept them at bay—and dealing with the false Meta-Knights instead.

The Parallel Deviant fluttered just a little ahead, with only Adeleine and Ribbon left standing. The Animal Trio was still recovering, as was Gooey. The artistic duo's gazes flitted to us, but with _him_ in the forefront, they didn't have a choice but to face him.

The Combo Cannon EX readied three more bombs to be thrown.

He rushed toward them and forced them on the defensive, Adeleine's paintbrush providing no reprieve from his vicious strikes. The three of us watched helplessly as he effortlessly beat them about the battlefield, treating them like a _training dummy._

Eventually, all action ceased to be. The Parallel Deviant flapped his wings and flew higher into the air, holding Adeleine up by her collar. Ribbon pulled at his hand with her fairy-sized arms ("You jerk! Let go of my best friend!"), but it wasn't doing anything to him.

" _Adeleine…!"_

He looked into my eyes, and glinted maliciously.

 _ **This is what your misguided hope has led to,**_ _he_ seemed to declare. _**The end of all you have ever known.**_

Then, he moved back his sword—

—and prepared to finish her.

 _No, this cannot be…!?_ I thought.

 _It… can't end here…!_

* * *

" _Aaaaaaaahhh…! It's_ beautiful…!"

" _It's not the worst thing I've ever seen, I'll admit."_

"… _hmm."_

 _A beautiful sunset was being draped over the sky, shining brightly amidst the clouds._

 _Ordinarily, it'd be naught more than an above-average sight. But… there was a greater context to this moment._

 _On the roof of Carrot Castle, the three of us—me, Shadow Kirby, and Shadow Dedede—sat and watched the sun descend over the horizon. My other four companions were elsewhere, at the moment – for this was a memory I asked to have purely with my oldest friends._

 _Despite everything, Shadow Kirby's eyes were sparkling as brightly as the day I met him. "I know this isn't anything too special, but… it's just…" He sniffed. "It's just been so long…"_

"… _indeed." I knew exactly what he was referring to. 'Tis was hard to forget, when it had consumed so much of my life for the previous decade-and-a-half. "I'd… almost forgotten myself—the days I spent with you two, before… we all changed."_

" _Tch." Shadow Dedede frowned and tapped his finger against the sill. "You say that, but… I hope you remember it was more_ you _than anyone else."_

 _That was… an understatement, to say the least._

" _Hey, Dedede!" Shadow Kirby pouted. "You don't have to be so rude! D-Dark Meta Knight's trying his best!"_

" _Just because he's 'trying his best' doesn't mean I'll fully forgive him yet," the Mirror World king retorted. "He didn't just break our fragile peace—he betrayed the friendships we held dearly. Fourteen years of heartache_ won't _simply go away in a flash."_

 _I grimaced. "I know."_

 _I had sought Dark Mind's tutelage to destroy the weakness I believed inherent to my soul—weakness supposedly inherited from my Dream Land counterpart._

 _I had been taught that devastation was my calling, that friendship would serve only as a detriment to my ability to reach my 'true potential'._

 _I gave up everything for the allure of darkness, for a sense of confidence and security that I had desired for all of my life._

 _I… I let Dark Mind corrupt me for far too long—and it has left consequences that I can't dismiss as easily as I'd like._

" _There… is little that I can do to truly express how apologetic I am," I replied. "I understand that I'll never be as easily trusted again in this realm. All I can do… is hope to set things right in the future."_

 _A stillness permeated the atmosphere._

"… _you're sincere, at least." Shadow Dedede noted. "You wouldn't have said any such things even back in the heydays of our friendships." He leaned back and frowned—but in a thoughtful way. "I imagine we have your new friends to thank for that."_

" _Adeleine, Ribbon, Marx, and Daroach, right?" Shadow Kirby listed off. (Hmph—he memorized their names quickly.) "I didn't know that my Dream Land counterpart so many…_ friends! _They must've helped you out a lot, Meta!"_

" _They were certainly… very stubborn about it, yes." We didn't have the most elegant of meetings, that was for sure—I had nearly attacked on sight, so influenced by Dark Mind I was. "I can't say I'd be where I am without their presence during this last adventure."_

 _Shadow Kirby shuffled closer to me. "I'm… happy that they were there for you, Meta. But I—" He sniffed. "—I… we're still_ your _friends too, right? Like, me and Dedede?"_

 _I blinked. "…yes?" I answered, confused. "Of… course. It may have been over a decade, but I wouldn't forget you two—not for anything."_

" _But you're so much…_ happier _with them!" he argued. "Happier than—than when you were with_ us! _I… I don't want to feel like we're—_ I'm— _getting in the way. Like I'm obsolete."_

 _He shivered and looked away, plainly attempting to hide his discomfort from my eyes._

…

I… I have a lot to make up for.

For the days when you could be carefree…

 _I put a hand on his shoulder. "Shadow Kirby. I promise you now, you and Dedede, I will be here for you. A confidant—maybe a protector—for however long I—" I breathed. "—I can be one."_

 _He sniffled, struggling to hold back a tear. "Do—Do you really mean it…?"_

 _I nodded. "I do."_

 _Next to me, Dedede gave me a sharp look. "Just make sure you don't lose your way, this time. We won't recover from that."_

" _Well… that's you and my other allies are for," I replied. "Isn't that right?"_

"… _yeah. Good to see you're learning."_

* * *

…no.

No, I refuse to let things in this manner!

This world, that I have come to appreciate, that I have come to even **love** —

—I shall _not_ permit it to present such a half-baked, overrated destiny!

Gathering my strength, I willed my body to rise up against the Heavy Lobster's feet—and with an ardent cry, I escaped its grasp and sliced it up with three large Galaxias, summoned from tears in reality. As soon as Marx and Daroach were free and it was rendered to scrap, I turned into a mirror shard—

—and _warped_ to Parallel Meta Knight.

"Dark Meta!" Adeleine brightened up. "You're…!"

" **Hmph."** I glared into my golden doppelganger's eyes. **"Begone!"**

I lunged forward to him and caught him in an upward slash, separating him from Adeleine and Ribbon. I ascended as I spun about, fiercely swinging my sword until I sent him to the ground with another summoned silver Galaxia from above.

And for my final attack, I spawned two mirror clones and sent them to push him back. And they did; he crashed into the Combo Cannon EX's barrel, destroying it in the process.

Marx dashed to my side, looking impressed. "Wow, Darky! That was… actually pretty cool! Guess you _do_ have some bite beneath that tsun-tsun status of yours."

"This blade of my isn't just for show, jester," I retorted. "Besides—it wouldn't do to let my allies die here."

"Either way, I'm… glad you made it!" Adeleine said, hand held over her chest. "That was a… little too close… for comfort…!"

"Tell me about it…!" Ribbon sighed. "If I had a sword myself, I'd love to stick it up that _jerk's_ butt!"

Daroach raised his hat and smirked. "In any case, the Combo Cannon's been destroyed, and it looks like it's time for us to move on to the next area of the Halberd. I do recall from the blueprints that there's a reactor powering the entire ship."

I nodded. "That is correct. Should we manage to take it out, the rest of this operation will be… 'better sailing'." I glanced at the wrecked cannon, noticing the Parallel Deviant rising from its debris. "Let us get a move on—that deviant won't leave us be for much longer!"

Everyone nodded. _**"Got it!"**_

We took to the skies and flew off, making sure to inform our other four companions of our actions. They were recovered to follow us, thankfully.

And though our nemesis began to chase us soon after, I couldn't help but have a small smile appear on my mouth.

* * *

…

Even now, I will admit this:

Kirby is… complicated for me.

He and King Dedede brought me down on separate attempts, but they were (mostly) amicable to me after I came back to life as a Star Ally. The puffball is, as he says, a friend first and foremost—and that is made clear in the way he interacts with all of us, in spite of whatever history we may have had.

…I still don't fully understand him, even with the wisdom I have gained.

But… perhaps, that is fine.

I understand enough.

His friendships are his power—and they're beginning to be mine as well.

He is a true **hero of the stars**.

He helped me open my eyes again…

…and for that reason, I shall fight for his and everyone else's sake.

Now…

 _ **Let us turn victory into our destiny!**_

* * *

 **[N/A]**

 **Dimension III – Distorted Square**

Below the rose-tinted skies, things were building up to a climax.

The battle had more than made its mark on the arena, what with the broken tiles and newly-made craters littering the surface.

The four Parallel Meta Knights were standing on ground level, as was the seven Star Allies that were their opponents. They were heavily panting, waiting for the other to make the next move.

"I think we're almost there…" Kirby said, holding himself up with his Mirror Wand.

"You—You sure 'bout that, Kirby…?" Bandana Dee asked, piggybacking off his Great King. "I honestly can't tell myself…"

"This fight _has_ lasted long enough," Dedede said. "We should be hitting a turning point eventually…"

"Hmm…" Meta Knight wrapped himself in his cape. "Perhaps…"

He directed his attention above the faux Sacred Square, where the Parallel Halberd still sat. The other six Star Allies turned to look as well, their own curiosity flaring up.

The laser fire had ceased a while back, but that hadn't stopped all of the fortress's weapons from firing upon the lot of them. Depending on what happened up there, the Star Allies would either be that much closer to victory… or that much closer to defeat. It was a gamble—but would it pay off?

"Come on… come on…" Kirby prayed.

At first, all that greeted them was further silence.

But then…

One explosion.

Two explosions.

Three explosions.

Suddenly, the whole ship began to fall apart at the seams, dropping out of the sky faster than Kirby in his Stone form. Down and down it went, until finally it hit the ravine below—and didn't get back up.

"C-C-Could it be…?" Taranza dared.

"They did it…! They actually did it!" Magolor cheered.

"So they did," Susie nodded, one hand on top of the other. "An entire battleship, taken down using only their wits… an impressive feat, I must say."

"I did the same thing, too, back in good 'ol '96!" the pink puffball grinned. "It's not that difficult, if you know what you're doing!"

Meta Knight stared deadpan at his friend. "Kirby, you are a monster even amongst monsters. They could throw three Soul Bosses at you at once and you'd still come out on top."

"Heh heh… I guess when you put it _that_ way…"

Nine figures could be seen soaring away from the wreckage. In short time, they arrived to aid their friends again, smiling at the partial victory they had achieved.

"We're back again!" Ribbon declared, a bright smile stretching to her cheeks. "And about time too!"

"We had lots of fun," Gooey drooled, globs of orange circling on his Mock Matter form. "You should have been there to play with us."

Adeleine dropped down and immediately painted up a picnic. Several pieces of food promptly flew from her canvas and landed in the mouths of both Team Kirby and Team Magolor. "Mmm," the puffball pronounced, "just what we needed! Thanks, Adeleine!"

"Don't mention it!"

"So, what's up next?" Kine asked, plopping down on the floor. "The Halberd's gone, so there shouldn't be any more tricks left…"

"Well…"

It was then that the fifth Parallel Meta Knight reappeared, a little behind his four brothers. Together, they rose into the air, the ground rumbling as a result of whatever magic they were using.

"…their last-ditch attack, for one thing!" Kirby finished.

Boulders of all shapes and sizes rose alongside them, all shrouded in the violet aura of the Parallel Meta Knights. There seemed to be a never-ending supply of them, enough to cover the ground twice over.

"That is… _way_ too many rocks…!" Dedede gawked.

"Th-Th-This isn't g-gonna be good…!" Taranza squeaked.

" _Scatter!"_ Daroach yelled. The sixteen Star Allies did as commanded… right as the rocks came down like a meteor shower.

They were thrown rather haphazardly, with no regard for any precision – which was perfect, for the heroes were having trouble weaving through the mess.

Screams and shouts filled the air. A volley of techniques were thrown back at them—Magolor was desperately using Black Holes; Taranza and Susie relied on her Business Suit's Spin Cycling; Rick, Kine, and Coo were borderline panicking—

" _Cutter them, Coo, cutter them!"_

" _What do you think I'm trying to do, Rick!?"_

—Team Adeleine was doing their own thing—

" _Don't worry, boss! I'll break these rocks!"_ Storo declared, bouncing about the arena.

"You do that, Storo," Daroach said, claws on his hat's rim.

"Woo-hoo! We're dancing!" Ribbon cheered, her and Adeleine twirling around with their hands together. It was a very effective technique, somehow.

—oh, and the Parallel Meta Knights decided they wanted to join in on the fun, too.

Two of them zipped about while the Star Allies were distracted, attacking lightning-fast with long-reaching slices. Two others were also using electrified orbs as whips,

Marx was panicking, warping like he'd never warped before. "Ack! No! Get away! This isn't fun!" He narrowly dodged a sliding dash from one of the clones. "Go bother somebody else!"

"This is annoying," Dark Meta Knight grumbled, keeping the force beam at bay. It was… way too persistent. "Why do these cretins get to use elements with such methods?"

Kirby had whipped out the Suplex ability, tossing rocks into each other with unholy strength. "Not how I wanted to get my exercise today," he quipped. "Would've preferred much less… calorie-consuming."

"You're not the only one," Dedede said, batting away another boulder with his hammer. "After today, though, I think I'll just sit out in the sun and relax instead!"

Meta Knight, meanwhile, easily noticed the lone EX Boss clone fluttering above the abyss. With adrenaline running through his veins, he shot toward his doppelganger, bypassing the chaos of the battlefield entirely.

"It's time to end this," he vowed—"put the shadows of my past to rest once and for all! Parallel Meta Knight! _Prepare yourself!"_

Parallel Meta Knight the Fifth raised his sword—and he and the other four duplicates became shadows, fusing back into a single whole. With his attention now wholly on his namesake, he dashed at him—

—and the two knights proceeded to clash like the _Brawl_ tournament had never ended.

Meta Knight's arm moved as a blur, too fast for everyone else to properly make out. Several sparks showered down from the air, so furiously were they fighting. It was mesmerizing; the Lone Swordsman had never pushed himself this far before.

" _ **It is pointless to resist,"**_ the golden knight said. _**"I am your superior—your ultimate foe. Even Galacta Knight would see me as such."**_

Sweat was pouring down the other knight's head. Evidently, even _he_ wasn't sure if he could keep this up.

" _ **You are weak. You choose to relish in peace, to let your skills stagnate from negligence. There is no point in continuing like this. Give up!"**_

"…that is where you are mistaken." The azure warrior initiated a block, which then transitioned into a Galactic Counter. His eyes were briefly drawn to his audience—all of whom were cheering him on as loudly as possible.

"Come on, Meta Knight!" Kirby hopped up and down. "Show that EX Boss what you're made of!"

"You're too skilled to fall here!" King Dedede shouted, hands cupped around his mouth. "By my royal decree, I command you to _win!"_

"Fight! Fight!" Bandana Dee added.

Meta Knight smiled. "I told you before—my friendships give me the strength to be here, fighting as long as I can move my limbs. So long as you lack those… it is _you_ who cannot hope to outmatch me!"

Abruptly, a second pair of wings erupted from his back, accompanied by electricity surging from his body. His eyes flashed red as they glared with determination.

" **Now… know my power!"**

He sliced his doppelganger from multiple angles, creating large blue-purple speed trails as he went. Again and again he struck, draining evermore the EX Boss's last few Hit Points, until…

…he warped in from the top, and drilled through him, landing in front of the Star Allies shortly afterward.

" _Come back when you can put up a fight,"_ he taunted him, one last time.

White streaks of light came from Parallel Meta Knight's form…

…and at last, he _**exploded**_ in a burst of purple smoke.

The third Heart Spear made itself known soon after, wrapped in the same florescent pink aura as the two the Star Allies already had. Meta Knight wasted no time in plucking it out of the air and placing it in his inventory.

"Great work, buddy," Kirby patted him on the shoulder. "I knew you had it in you."

"It was nothing too extravagant," Meta Knight dismissed. "It was a team effort, in any case. Everyone helped contribute to our combined victory here. Even Susie."

Susie snorted. "No need to call me out—I know I did a spectacular job, thank you very much."

"I think we did an even better job, though," Adeleine argued—"I mean, we blew up a _battleship!_ It's hard to top that!"

"Ninety Friend Hearts and three Heart Spears have been collected thus far," Daroach noted, his eyes closed. "That should leave us with thirty more Friend Hearts and one more Heart Spear—oh, and one last Parallel Boss, of course."

"Thirty more, huh…?" Rick muttered. "Gee, mate… When you put it that way, it sounds… pretty possible!"

"Possible is our middle name," Gooey said. "Impossible is just a myth."

"Ha! Gooey's got _that_ right!" Marx grinned. "No myth can ever hope to defeat us—never! You hear me! _Never!"_

"Now that I think about it, all the myth-busting we've been doing might mean we'll become myths ourselves," Magolor pointed out. "As in, legends for the next generation to surpass." He rubbed his hand on his chin. "Being a Halcandran myself, that is… admittedly an odd feeling."

"You said it…" Bandana Dee chimed in, rubbing the back of his head. "Like—me? _Famous?_ It feels weird as _heck!"_

" _S-S-Same here…"_ Taranza muttered.

"I know I wouldn't mind it," Dedede laughed—"heck, I already _am_ famous out on the Internet! You can't beat perfection, and everyone knows it!"

"My reputation's even bigger, though," Kirby cheekily replied. "I mean, I destroy gods and demons for a living!"

"And eat like there's no tomorrow!"

"Yeah, that too!"

And so it was that the Star Allies triumphed over the third big foe of the day. Though the skies above them ominously cloudy, the road ahead was looking clearer and clearer.

One more dimension, and then they'd be in the homestretch.

One more dimension, now.

* * *

Elsewhere, in Another Dimension…

… _it was cold._

She _… was cold._

 _So cold._

…

 _But that didn't matter to her as much as the_ _ **mission**_ _._

…

…

…

 _A trail of bodies lay on the ground, scattered about as haphazardly as breadcrumbs in the kitchen. They were twitching, their bodies spread out in unenviable positions—and even from far away, one could see the after-effects of darkness flaring from their bruises and injuries._

 _And for as the environment around them… craters and debris littered the ground, the bright yellows of Another Dimension noticeably losing their shine from the careless carnage. If one followed the evidence to its endpoint, however apprehensively…_

… _they'd find naught but even more devastation, derived straight from the root of darkness._

"HEEEEEEE- **YAHHHHHH!"**

 _With a swing of her heavy labrys, Francisca laid into the Grand Wheelie DX, shattering its armor in a single blow. It went flying into a nearby wall at breakneck speeds, bouncing onto the floor with a dizzied expression. As is, it was utterly defeated, unable to do much else to the Frozen General in terms of damage—but that wasn't enough for her._

" _Bahahahaha…_ BA **HA** HA **HA** HA **HA** HA **HA!"**

 _She leaped toward the downed enemy, and started_ ripping it _to_ shreds. _Again and again, she tore into it with heavy slashes, showing no trace of her usual sympathy or pragmatism. It was to the point where the rubber in the poor Grand Wheelie's tire was gaining massive tears._

 _However, it wasn't until it was unconscious and wrecked beyond repair that the berserk mage finally deigned to stop._

" _Hmph," she coldly scoffed,_ _completely unlike her usual mannerisms._ _ **"Pathetic."**_

 _She knocked the Wheelie into a pile of defeated enemies behind her—_ _just like Hyness would shove Zan out of the way_ _—and hovered over to her next foe, an unfortunate Miasmoros EX. He burbled in panic, likely able to be translated as something akin to 'Get me away from this crazy witch!'._

 _Unfortunately for him, there was no one to save him from the hell she would inflict on him._

 **Yes, that's right,** _a voice sinisterly whispered into her heart._ **Show no mercy to this lot. Give to them what those wretched Star Allies** **deserve** **to feel.**

 _By now, the Three Mage-Sisters had shrugged off any idea of holding onto the ideals that made them… them. And they were showing this rather effectively through their current means of combat: what could best be described as extremely long and drawn-out execution reels._

 _Flamberge, in the background, was much the same as her frigid twin—the darkness from before was halfway covering the both of them now, bringing with it partially blackened skin, whitening gold apparel, and eyes as red as a certain angel's blood. The fiery fighter was bellowing in rage, taking on two Telepathos EXes by herself with six flaming swords surrounding her. She was like a sun blazing in the heat, well-befitting her epithet as the Bringer of Flame—but even she could not compare to the spectacle that was Zan Partizanne._

 _Unlike her sisters, Zan had let the darkness consume her whole from the outset. And with unlimited darkness, came unlimited_ _ **power.**_

" _ **Rot in**_ **ruin!"**

 _The Lightning General was single-handedly_ destroying _a battalion of EX Mid-Bosses. Her spear was pointed upward and summoning an incredibly thick storm cloud, raining down a salvo of lightning bolts down on their unprepared little heads. Thousands of volts coursed through each bolt, taking them out in no time at all._

 _To Francisca's corrupted eyes… it was glorious._

 _Oh. So._ Glorious.

 _BA-DUMP!_

 _Deep down, a part of her wanted to fight this corruption. The child that still knew nothing of pain, of suffering; of freezing in a frosty blizzard, alone and almost an afterthought—she screamed at her to stop this, to remember the person she used to be._

 _BA-DUMP!_

'Don't succumb to it!' came as a faint whisper to her mind. 'If—If you keep going like this, you'll… you'll never come back! Berge, Z-Z-Zan! Please… help—!'

 _BA-DUMP!_

 _But it was smothered just as fast as it came into being._

'No, no, d-don't! We—We—We…! We can't go out like this—!"

 _BA-_ _ **DU**_ _ **MP**_ _—!_

…

…

…

…sorry. But I'm afraid I'll have to put you on ice… **forever.**

 _The Miasmoros she was facing screamed again—_ how irritating, _she thought._

 _Deciding that she was done playing games, Francisca got out her soda gun, shook it a few times, and fired it point blank into the slime monster's mouth._

 _It flailed about in agony, gurgling and gurgling and growing louder in volume. She blocked it out of her ears, letting it wash away in the dirtied ocean that was her soul. Her attack continued on, and on, and on… until the Miasmoros was naught but a shadow of its former self._

 _She proceeded to stick her axe into its messed up form and freeze it solid._

It's a shame I won't be able to add this to my trophy collection, _she idly mused._

But then again… there'll be **plenty** more opportunities for that down the line.

 _On another note… Now that she had allowed the shadows to creep into her heart… she could sense_ _ **him.**_

 _Hyness._

 _Unmoving, unwavering._

Waiting deep within the depths of Another Dimension.

 _She regrouped with her fellow Mage-Sisters, once they were done with their respective bands of would-be bosses._

" _He's getting closer," Francisca said._

 _Zan nodded clinically. "He is alone at the precipice of this dimension. We must hurry, before we find ourselves unable to aid him in his mission."_

 _Purple flames enveloped Flamberge, the girl giving out a smile as wicked as her bite. "Well, I'm not gonna let that happen! We'll reach 'im faster than Stubby Pink Thing can eat a meteor! RARRRRRRRGH!"_

 _With their objective reaffirmed, the trio of sisters continued deeper into the mysterious realm, linked inexplicably to Pop Star and the legacy of the Ancients._

 _(Little did they know… they were treading a very delicate path—a path with only a steep cliff to mark its end, instead of any true paradise._

 _And their determination would inevitably lead them to fall down its slippery slope, into a grave extinguishing their light._

 _With all this in mind, there was but one question left to ask:_

 _If somebody came in and gave them the hope they had long been looking for…_

 _Could they still achieve…_ _ **the**_ _ **happiest ending…?**_ _)_

* * *

 **Jambandra Base  
The Divine Terminus – Altar**

Below the crowd of Helpers and Dream Friends, the pool of darkness rippled vibrantly.

"H-Huh!?" Eleven startled faces—accompanied by similar expressions from the assembled Jammerjabs—jumped back and pointed their weapons at the shimmering lake. In front of their eyes, a touch of red appeared in the center and gradually grew to fill the entire image, black patterned bars replacing the splotchy clouds from before.

"Oh no," Waddle Doo gasped, her iris shrinking. "The Divine Terminus—it's changing again!"

"By the will of Galactic NOVA…" Ceri swore, jaw dropping open in palpable trepidation. "This is—This is beyond anything my studies prepared me for…! No spell I have can protect us from _this…!"_

"Everyone, don't let your guards down!" Jennifer commanded. She carefully rallied the group closer to the entrance, in an attempt to negate any positional disadvantage they may have had. "Whatever we see, we can't let it frighten us here!"

"Jennifer's right!" Chuchu said, Pitch and Nago standing faithfully by her side. "Just hold on tight…!"

The pool began to glow and pulsate, unnerving the crew even more as it expanded past its old borders. It shone brighter and brighter with every passing beat, until at last—

—massive globes of black-red energy _**exploded**_ from the surface, circling about and going who-knows-where, being absorbed by the decorations around the arena—

—and a tremendous amount of panic filled the air.

* * *

 **How is it that this dang fic keeps getting several months long-gaps between chapters? Sheesh, I've really gotta cut back on the side fics I post after every major update…**

 **For this chapter's flashback, I wanted to emphasize the type of person Hyness used to be, and further establish how the Mage-Sisters became devoted to him and his cause. There's a reason why the Officiant of Doom was able to convince so many to join his cult—once upon a time, he** _ **did**_ **have altruistic intentions. It was just overshadowed by the encroaching darkness in his own mind.**

 **And of course the Mage-Sisters, with nowhere else to go, would help the man who saved their lives in whatever way they could. He showed them kindness; to them, it's only right that they return the favor. That, unfortunately, gave them no real way out when things got bad again (i.e. Hyness letting his insanity take over) – and combined with their undying loyalty to him… well, you're seeing where things are going from here.**

 **Back on the subject of Another Dimension, I'm pretty sure the one thing that everyone remembers about it is its mid-bosses. Namely, the Sphere Doomers. Oh, how I hate the Sphere Doomers. And given how attached they are** _ **to**_ **said dimension—not to mention how much stronger they are compared to the non-Star Allies populace—it's only natural that they'd be a part of the danger the Star Allies are trying to stop (as I stated back in Chapter 1).**

 **Hence, them starting to show up more.**

 _ **Quiver in fear.**_

 **To celebrate her role in these fics of mine, Adeleine gets an especially long POV piece, much like her friend Ribbon. She's the character I've arguably become the most enamored with, and I hope her segment appropriately conveys all the reasons why I care for her and her faithful fairy friend. For everything they've contributed toward 'this verse, this is—in a way—my thank-you gift to them. Keep on adventuring, you two.**

 **I've already touched upon our artistic angel numerous times before, but this is my first real time delving into Dark Meta Knight and Daroach's psyches. I've always had the impression of DMK being hilariously edgy, as well as even more steely compared to normal Meta; and Daroach strikes me as somebody who enjoys being as utterly flamboyant and stylish as possible. I hope I managed to convey their unique characters in their thought processes—oh, and the way their friendships with everyone else have enriched their lives. I mean, that's the whole reason I'm** _ **doing**_ **this…**

 **Speaking of friends, I couldn't go off and leave the other Animal Buddies in the dust! Chuchu, Pitch, Nago—they'll never be major players, sure, but they're still a treasured part of the Gamble Galaxy. In a way, I guess you can consider this an appreciation piece for them, a way to commemorate their legacy despite the fandom at large considering them tertiary characters at best.** _ **Kirby's Dream Land 3**_ **may elude me personally, but never let it be said that I don't try my best to include everyone I can.**

 **Parallel Meta Knight is business as usual, compared to Parallel Kracko. Being a copy of the so-called Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy, it's no surprise that he can match a team of sixteen despite his relatively short stature. Of course, that doesn't mean it'd be practical to have** _ **all**_ **the Star Allies after him at once—so I threw in a twist with a miniature Halberd, piloted by parallel versions of the Meta-Knights. Why not? I've gotta give 'em** _ **some**_ **semblance of a challenge!**

 **Well, that's all for now – tune in next time for the fourth dimension, and the Kumazaki-directed trio of Dream Friends! (Hopefully without another massive nine-month delay… Jeez…)**


End file.
